The Other Shepard
by Techno Nerd
Summary: Retake of the popular series, Mass Effect, with a new character, Lily Shepard, who is the sister of Commander Shepard. Constructive criticism welcome. Mass effect 1. T for language. Hope you Enjoy :) I understand if you're confused by the latest chapter, it's hopefully going to lead to a good plot twist but I'm not sure, though I'll change it if it's really bad
1. The Beginning

"Come on, sis, the recruitment office is just down here" Jane said in front of me.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I mumbled as we neared the office, brushing my long brown hair behind my ears.

"Wonder if they'll accept us" Jane thought aloud as I turned to look at her.

Her dark green eyes stared at the office as her short black hair blew around her face. I smiled in encouragement as I gave her a one-arm hug.

"Come on, the Alliance wouldn't pass up potential soldiers now, would they? I just hope we get assigned off this planet," I told her, grinning as we joined the queue of eager men and woman. I recognized a few of them from the gang; seemed Jane and I weren't the only ones wanting a fresh start.

"What's wrong with Earth?" she asked me, sarcastically.

"Nothing's wrong with it, its just…There are so many planets in the galaxy…and I want to explore them. Earth is just too boring. I want to go up there," I explained, pointing a long, slender finger towards the sky.

"You just want to find that turian," she mumbled, rolling her eyes as I punched her arm.

"That's not the _only _reason" I glared playfully at her as she shrugged, rubbing her arm.

"So much space; so little time" I sighed dreamily.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Jane smiling at me.

"Don't worry, Sis. There's enough time to explore the galaxy. Right now, though, we need to sign up" she ended it as we came to the front of the queue and signed up to the Alliance.

3 months later…

"Come on, sis. The shuttle won't wait forever!" I shouted to Jane up the stairs before picking up my weighted bags. We've about to leave Earth and start training as an Alliance soldier.

I was so excited but also slightly panicked. Never going to space before sorta does that to you.

"Calm down, it won't leave without us" Jane assured me as I turned to see her walking down with her bags which were similar to mine.

We stood silently as we looked up at the stairs leading up to our soon-to-be available apartment along with the other occupied apartments

"I can't believe we're actually leaving," I mumbled.

"Whatever, just hurry up," Jane told me as she picked up her bags and left the building. After a few more minutes, I left the block that contained our shared apartment since we couldn't afford to live on our own.

I placed my luggage in the shuttle under the chairs and took my seat next to Jane as the shuttle doors began to close.

"I wonder how mom will react," Jane quietly mumbled to me. I began thinking about it, immediately regretting it because of the sudden guilt that came with it.

We didn't tell her because we knew she wouldn't let us go and leave her with dad.

That is my biggest regret: leaving her alone with 'dad' the retired Alliance marine with a drinking problem.

I 'hummed' in reply, dismissing the thoughts of mom and dad as I tried to settle my inner guilt.

"Well, Lils, time to begin the adventure" Jane said smiling at me. I grinned at her and grabbed her hand.

"We begin the adventure together, sis," I told her. She grinned back.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she said as the shuttle began to fly off.

A man came out from the front of the shuttle.

"Morning, I am Corporal Alenko and I need to brief you on certain knowledge and events before we land at Alliance HQ" he stated, sitting opposite us before handing each of us a folder.

"These contain future information you may need but for now we'll stay with the basics" he smiled at us as he began to brief us; the dull hum of the shuttle's engine ringing around the container.

That was 10 years ago…

I woke up to a repeating buzzing sound that began to grate on my nerves. Jane decided it would be funny to hide an alarm clock set to 4am in my room and not tell me where it is. She says I sleep too much and decided the alarm clock would be helpful.

I groaned as I finally got the energy to get up and dressed in my Alliance casuals. Stretching all the kinks in my body, I looked at the calendar on my desk. Today was the day we were going to do the shakedown run. I sighed sleepily as I pulled my shirt over my head.

A lot has happened in the years of serving the alliance: I got promoted to Lieutenant, Jane to Commander, and all in the space of ten years.

It probably wouldn't have happened if the battles on Torfan never happened.

I would happily remain a low rank if it meant I didn't have to live through that again.

I decided to leave my room in search of my sister and beg her again for the 7th time this week to get that fricking alarm clock out of my room! I opened and locked the door to my private room as I headed down the corridor and into the elevator.

Pressing the top button, I waited for a few painfully slow minutes before the doors reopened in the mess hall.

A few of the newest recruits were relaxing at the tables as we exchanged nods and 'Morning's' before I headed up the stairs into the main area of the ship.

As I reached the top, the door guards saluted me as the dazing glow of the interactive galaxy map greeted me, along with the dozens of staff-occupied terminals surrounding the edges of the room.

Behind the map, various stations created a small island in the center of the room, each specifically designed for one of the ship's main maintenance areas.

Waving at some of the crew as well as Pressley, the ship's navigator, when I walked past them, heading to the front of the ship: the cockpit.

Form here, I could see Jane's silhouette in the darkness of the room; the lights of the ship's navigation terminals painted the room in a dark orange.

I could make out Joker's hat next to Jane's abdomen and also Kaidan's form next to him. I could tell it was Kaidan because no one else had that hairstyle.

I smiled as I made my way towards them.

"Hey, sis" I said, putting my arm over Jane's shoulders as Joker flew through the mass relay.

"Hey, Lily" she replied, glancing towards me with a smile.

"Sis, would you mind-" I began but she cut me off with a sharp 'no' leaving no room for argument. I sighed in defeat.

"I hate you," I mumbled, dropping my arm.

"I'm Commander, everyone hates me," she retorted as Joker snorted.

"Now that's not true Commander; we love you really" I could hear his smirk on the other side of the chair.

"Just drive the ship" Jane rolled her arms as she pressed her hand on his chair, leaning against it.

I looked to the right to see Kaidan sitting at the terminal.

"Hey, Kaidan. How's my favourite biotic?" I asked, moving towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Been okay, Lils. Nothing unusual" He informed me.

"Implants okay?" I asked worried.

Kaidan unfortunately had an incident a week ago where Kaidan's shields had malfunctioned and a stray bullet had gone through Kaidan's arm and into his biotic implants.

"Been better; been worse. I'm fine, though. Don't worry" he encouraged me, the terminal's glow highlighting his dark brown hair and eyes.

"Good to hear" I told him, patting his shoulder before moving away and towards Joker.

I hugged him from behind: crouching behind the chair and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"And how is the greatest pilot in the Alliance doing?" I asked, tiredly, suddenly feeling very drowsy.

"Been better, though I reeeaaalllyyy need to take a piss" He joked. I laughed lightly as I removed my arms from his neck.

"No soiling the seats, got it?" I ordered playfully as I took my place on the left of Jane, behind Joker.

"Got it, Lieutenant," he said before the radio began to speak.

"Joker, tell Lt and Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room" Anderson's commanding voice sounded over the intercomm.

"Yes, Captain" he spoke obediently into the intercomm microphone before turning around to see us.

"Got that?" he asked us, raising an eyebrow.

"Got it," we replied in sync before turning and walking briskly down the long corridor, towards the main room.

As we walked around the island in the center of the control room, in the distance, I could hear a part of Joker and Kaidan's conversation.

"Sounds angry" Kaidan faint voice echoed behind me.

"He always sounds like that when he's talking to me" Joker sighed faintly as I had to focus to hear their voices the further we walked away.

"Can't possibly imagine why" was Kaidan's sarcastic reply. I snorted, smirking while earning a confused glance from Shepard before the guards saluted in time with the opening of the door to the comm room.

We entered quietly to see Nihlus standing near the intercomm.

"Hey, Nihlus" I smiled politely at the turian spectre.

"Hello, Lt Shepard" he replied politely, nodding his head.

"Where's the Captain?" Shepard interrupted our conversation, becoming cold towards Nihlus.

"He'll join us in a minute. I wanted to talk to you before he joins us" he answered passively, returning to business.

"About what?" I asked him curiously, crossing my arms.

He turned back to the intercomm where a large black screen was attached to the back wall behind a small control panel and a metal railing, creating a small platform with 6 circling chairs along the edges and a narrow pathway towards the exit.

There were three dark-silver plates in a row in from of the television, which I've recently learned was to communicate with the Alliance seniors and, in rare occasions, the council.

I drew my eyes away from the quick scan of the room and focused on Nihlus's form, leaning on the control panel and facing away from us.

"This place we're going to, Eden Prime, I've heard it's quite a paradise," he stated, factually.

"Very" I said offhand, eyeing him warily.

"A sign of humanity's progress since First Contact" he continued, slowly pressing on the subject.

"What are you getting at?" Jane asked, suspiciously, which I couldn't help but share.

Shepard's trust was hard to gain during our service to the Alliance. I think the only people she trusts at the moment is Kaidan, Joker and Doctor Chakwas, only because you will have a hard time in the Alliance if you don't trust the woman you takes care of your wounds.

I heard the door open behind us as I instinctively turned to see Anderson walk towards us.

"I think its time to tell them what's _really _going on," Anderson said, looking at Nihlus with a knowing look.

"This mission…it isn't a shakedown mission" Nihlus began. I rolled my eyes.

"When do we ever get simple missions? Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised," I sighed, dropping my arms and grabbing the bar behind me, leaning against it completely.

"Why else would a spectre be here?" Jane added, eyeing Nihlus.

"This is an important mission, Shepard. We needed to make sure no information was given out," Anderson defended, taking a place to the right of Nihlus.

I raised an eye at him.

"What kind of ' important mission' are we talking about here?" I asked them, intrigued.

"We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational" Anderson began to explain.

"I don't like being kept in the dark, Captain" Jane narrowed her eyes at Anderson who narrowed his eyes slightly in disapproval.

I glanced at her confused. Usually, she would understand something like this being kept secret.

'Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today' I thought to myself, shrugging it off.

"This comes down from the top, Commander. Information strictly on a need-to-know basis" Anderson explained, though disapproval was laced in his words.

"Then why am I here? I'm just a Lieutenant" I asked him, confused.

"You have proved your loyalty to the Alliance on many occasions. Since a few of those missions were with me, I know personally that we could trust you with this information" he explained in detail.

I smiled at him in thanks as my inner self-pride grinned happily. I didn't know I was this trusted. I thought it would be because-

"Also, your sister is the Commander on this ship. She would know if you were giving information away about this," he added, nodding at Jane.

That's what I was waiting for. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister dearly, but sometimes it's really frustrating. It seems like the only reason people trust me or get to know me is because my sister is a Commander and probably their commanding officer. Getting to know your boss's sister is an easy way to stay on her good side.

Anderson quickly cut off my thoughts.

"A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean" he finished, catching my interest.

"Prothean? I thought they died around 50,000 years ago," I said, becoming more curious the more he explained.

"Vanished, actually, but their legacy remains. The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives-It's all based on Prothean technology," Nihlus explained to me.

Anderson continued explaining.

"This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forwards 200 years" Anderson explained to Jane.

"But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study" Anderson finished with Nihlus continuing.

"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interest. This discovery to affect every species in Council space." Nihlus added.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it? I mean, come on, it's just a beacon. What's so special about it?" I asked. I mean, how important could a beacon be?

Ignoring my question, Jane began to talk to Nihlus.

"We can handle this on our own" Shepard spoke with slight harshness.

"Unless something goes wrong" Nihlus retaliated. I silently agreed with Nihlus. At least if something goes wrong, we can blame it on the Spectre.

Anderson chose the perfect time to cut in.

"There's more. Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon. He's also here to evaluate you," he said to Shepard.

"Since when do we answer to spectres?" Shepard glared at Nihlus.

"Since they can do what the bloody hell they want. Why are you so grumpy today?" I whispered to Shepard. She's normally a quite cheerful person, if a little distant. Why the hell is she so uptight today?

Ignoring my question again, Anderson began to talk.

"You're smart enough to know how things work, Commander"

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council" Anderson explained to us, crossing his arms.

"The spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human within their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come" he continued.

Nihlus cut in.

"I was pretty impressed when I studied the reports from Torfan. A grim business…but you got the job done" Nihlus told us.

I scowled and looked away. Torfan was a failure in my eyes. If I was in charge of the mission, I would have done things entirely different but that's just my sister. She will act sweet and kind to you normally but during a mission, she treats you as…expendable.

I get the same treatment. She got the job done, yes, but the measures she took to get there was unnecessary to say the least. She refuses to talk to me about it: I think something happened.

Nihlus's next line stopped my train of thought and quickly replaced it with shock.

"That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the spectres"

I stared wide-eyed at Nihlus before turning to Shepard to see her reaction.

"I don't like people making decisions about my future" was her reply. That made me more shocked.

"Sis, you're offered to be the first human spectre and you're saying 'no'. Have you completely lost it, Jane?" I whispered angrily at her, astonished about her reaction.

"This isn't about you, Shepard. Humanity needs this. We're counting on you," he said to Shepard. Why is everyone ignoring me today or am I imagining myself speaking?

I could sing Britney Spears and still not get attention.

"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together," Nihlus told us.

I smiled inwardly. I spent some time talking with the turian since he spent some time on the ship. He's actually a good guy; I'm happy he's staying with us a little longer. I've always had a soft spot for turians, you could say.

"You'll be in charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission," Anderson continued to explained, pacing in front of us.

Don't mean to be rude but they're talking _a lot _at the moment. When're we getting to Eden Prime already? I'll have to talk to Joker when I leave the room…if I leave the room.

"Just give the word, Captain" Jane said. Finally, are we done? I'm not known for my patience.

"We should be getting close to Eden-" Joker cut off Anderson on the intercomm.

"Captain! We've got a problem," he said over the intercomm, slightly panicked.

"What's wrong, Joker?" All of us looked up at the ceiling.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!" Joker replied nervously.

"Bring it up on screen" Anderson ordered as we all turned to look at the screen.

Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen with bullets flying everywhere and a woman in a white suit running towards us.

"Get down" she ordered the person sending the transmission, pushing him lower to the ground.

Bullets continued to fly around the screen when another voice was heard.

"We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't…argh...-eed evac! They came out of nowhere. We need-"

He was cut off as he fell backwards and the camera turned to see everyone staring in shock at something. The camera followed their gaze to reveal a giant metal-like claw land on the ground and soon after the transmission died.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing," Joker explained to us, unnerved.

"Reverse and hold at 38.5" Anderson ordered Joker.

Soon, the image changed to reveal the claw. I stared in shock at it.

"What the hell is that thing?" I mumbled to myself, pushing off the bar and walking closer to the screen.

"Status report" Anderson ordered Joker.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area" Joker replied. After a moment of silence, Anderson spoke again.

"Take us in Joker. Fast and quiet…this mission just got a lot more complicated" Anderson told Joker, mumbling the end.

"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon" Nihlus informed Anderson.

"Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold" Anderson ordered Nihlus.

"Tell Alenko to suit up, Commander. You're going in. You too, Lieutenant" Anderson told us as he marched the room.

After a moment silence, I turned to Jane.

"Well, this just got interesting" I commented as we smirk at each other.

"Come on," she said, wrapping her arm over my shoulder as we followed Anderson out.


	2. The Prime of Eden

I attached the last of my N7 armour onto me when Joker talked through the intercomm.

"Engaging stealth systems" Joker informed everyone. We must be near Eden Prime. Brilliant.

"Ready, Nihlus?" I asked him, tucking my hair behind my ears while giving a chaste smile.

"Always, Lieutenant" He gave a quick smirk before becoming serious as he turned to see Anderson.

"Someone was doing some serious digging here, Captain" Joker told Anderson, who was with me, Jane, Kaidan and Nihlus, over the intercomm.

Anderson nodded to himself, deep in thought, before turning to Jane.

"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site" Anderson ordered her, yelling over the noise of the ship's engines.

"What about survivors, Captain?" Kaidan yelled, standing next to Nihlus and me.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority" Anderson answered.

"Approaching drop point one" Joker's voice rang through the cargo bay. I turned to Nihlus.

"Are you coming with us?" I asked him, crossing my arms against the cold breeze coming from outside.

"I move faster on my own" he replied, nodding at me before aiming with his rifle and jogging out of the ship as the bay door opened.

"Nihlus will scout ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence" Anderson ordered us.

"I don't like putting my life in the hands of a turian, sir" Jane confessed, glaring at Nihlus's retreating form before the doors of the ship closed and the ship started to lift off the ground.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. No wonder she was aggressive to Nihlus in the comm room.

I'm not sure why but she never trusted turians. Ever since she heard about the First Contact war and that the turians killed our grandfather, she's never liked them in general though there are a few turians she can get along with though they are few and far between.

That's where my sister and me are polar opposites; I actually like the turians more than humans. Not one turian I've met has betrayed me yet but I know a lot of humans who have.

"Nihlus is on our side. He wants you in the spectres, and he wants that beacon" Anderson told Jane, narrowing his eyes at her behavior but not arguing.

"Ready and able, sir!" I decided to cut in, least Jane makes another comment against Nihlus and start an argument.

"The mission's yours now. Good luck" he told us before marching past us and towards the elevator at the other end of the cargo bay.

Joker's voice was heard again, bouncing around the room as Anderson entered the elevator and closed the doors.

"Approaching drop point two," he told us as I felt the Normandy lower to the ground again.

The door opened again as we jogged out the Normandy.

I winced at the sudden light, lifting my arm in front of me so my eyes could adjust. Eventually, I lower my arm and took the time to take in the surroundings. It was a wasteland compared to what it used to be: the ruins of a distant colony surrounded the edges of an abandoned spaceport along with the remains of burnt-black trees and flowers. The red sky looming above us was the icing on the cake, creating an unnerving atmosphere around Eden Prime.

What thing could do this much damage in such short time?

"Right, you heard the Captain. The beacon is our top priority" Jane told us, taking me from my thoughts as I focused on her.

"So we lookout for survivors and the beacon" I confirmed to her, remembering Anderson's words.

"No, our mission is to find the beacon. We have no time to look for survivors," Jane said in a distant tone as she began to walk down the path. I jogged up to her, questioning her words.

"But, Commander, if there are survivors, don't you think it's important to help them instead of leaving them to fend for themselves?" I asked her, hoping to connect with her sense of honor.

She stopped and turned to me, coldly.

"Our mission is the beacon. Nothing else. That's an order" she stared me down before continuing down the path.

I glared slightly at her retreating form before following her down the path.

Like I said, on a mission she treats everyone as expendable. If helping survivors is not our top priority, she'll ignore it since she thinks it doesn't matter.

That's the reason Torfan was a failure and she'll probably be the reason that the survivors will die from whatever the hell happened here.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Kaidan looking at me.

"I know what the Commander said, but are you still going to keep an eye out for survivors?" he whispered to me incase Jane could overhear us.

"Definitely. I don't care what she tells me, leaving these people to die is immoral and I'll be damned if I give up on these people now" I told Kaidan, glowering at Jane's back

He smiled at me, pleased at my reply.

"I knew you wouldn't give up on them. You're always looking out for everyone," he said grinning.

I grinned in reply before looking back at Jane in a happier mood.

"Come on, let's catch up with the Commander," I whispered, picking up the pace so that we were a few feet behind her.

"So do we have any idea where this beacon is, Commander?' I asked her, gaining her attention.

"Should be at the other end of the path. Keep an eye out, though. The people here were being attacked by something; we don't know if they've left yet" she informed us cautiously.

Paranoid, Kaidan and I took out our rifles just in case while Jane took out her shotgun. She always liked things up close and personal.

We came to a hill with large rocks along the path and a large forested area at the top.

Shepard scanned the area before motioning me to go forward. I slowly walked forward with my rifle when suddenly two sentry turrets flew around the corner and shot at me. I managed to reach cover when my shields collapsed but not before one of their bullets hit my shoulder. I gasped as I felt the bullet pierce my armour as I instantly crossed my arm over my chest and put pressure on the wound with my hand.

"Lily!" I heard Kaidan's voice as he shot at the turrets before reaching my position.

"Are you hurt? Did they hit you?' He asked as he noticed the hand on my shoulder.

"Just got hit in the shoulder. Should be fine," I said, sitting up so my back was pressed against the wall, gritting my teeth.

He hovered his Omni-tool over my shoulder and I felt some of the pain dissipate.

"The medi-pack should help lessen the bleeding," he said as he continued to shoot the turrets behind cover. Eventually, both turrets were destroyed.

"Finally" I mumbled, as I looked past my cover to see if any others were coming.

"Come on. Let's go" Jane said as she continued up the hill with her trusty shotgun.

"You okay, Lils?" Kaidan asked as he offered his hand.

I pulled back my hand to see the wound. It looked worse than it was; at least most of the bleeding had died down thanks to the medi-pack.

"Yeah, I'm good" I replied, putting my hand back on my shoulder as I grabbed his hand with my free one. He pulled me up a little too quickly since I fell onto his chest; my arm crossing my chest was the only thing blocking contact.

I looked up at his surprised face and quietly chuckled nervously.

"Sorry about that" I said, shying away from his contact before walking up the hill.

Yea, I'm not a big fan of full-on physical contact.

"No problem" I heard him mumble before following me up the hill as we caught up with Jane to see a surprising sight.

The woman in the white suit with pink stripes from the distress video was in front of us, being shot by some sort of synthetic machinery as she sprinted away, firing her pistol at a few of the sentry bots, effectively destroying them while leaving the two-legged synthetics to fire their rifles at her.

For those who have no idea what a synthetic is, it is basically a non-organic or a robot, and these robots looked eerily like the images of the geth I learned from my studies on Quarian history.

The synthetics noticed us and began to fire, ignoring the fleeing form of the woman as she dove for cover, retrieving her rifle as she began to shoot. We quickly hid behind cover and shot at them, keeping their attention since the woman could easily be overpowered from her barely defensive position behind a small rock

As we were shooting, I noticed a person's body pierced on top of a large, dark blue spike. I scowled in disgust and focused back onto shooting the synthetics.

After a few minutes, the last one dropped to the ground and we made our way towards the woman.

"Thanks, Commander. I didn't think I was going to make it" she said, obvious relief written on her face as she panted for air.

Jane nodded to her in reply, eyeing her form. The woman then straightened up and spoke more formally.

"Gunnery chief, Ashley Williams of the 212. You're the one in charge here, ma'am?" she asked her, trying to act more organized.

"I need a status report. Now" Jane replied, authority filled her tone.

"Oh man…" Ashley sighed before pacing in front of us, fidgeting with her hands.

"We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit" she answered, pointing down the hill in front of us, where she'd just ran from.

"We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications" she explained before turning back to us, exhausted.

"I've been fighting for my life ever since" she finished tiredly.

'Wow, tough girl' I admired before Jane continued to question her.

"Where's the rest of your squad?" she asked her, crossing her arms in mock-curiousity. I knew she was looking for evidence of desertion.

"We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush" she replied, not noticing Jane's posture.

"I don't think any of the others…I think I'm the only one left" she finished, mournfully and looking a little guilty.

'Must've been rough' I thought sympathetically.

"So you just abandoned your squad to die?" Jane asked, accusingly.

I'll be honest; you have no idea how much I wanted to argue with my sister at that moment. Left her squad to die? At least she tries to not get everyone killed on a mission. You did watch the video, didn't you? Heavy casualties. She might've had no choice but to run!

I remained silent while the non-stop assault on Jane continued to play in my head.

"We held our position as long as we could. The geth overwhelmed us!" Ashley defended angrily, not bothering with respecting her superior.

The geth? Is that what these things are? I thought they all stayed in the Perseus veil, what are they doing here?

Kaidan chose that time to cut in, thankfully.

"The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they here now?" he asked my mental question. Well, at least Kaidan and me were on the same boat there.

"They must have come for the beacon," Ashley answered, shrugging as if that was the only possible reason.

This must be an amazing beacon then if it's that important that synthetics not seen for 200 years want to take it.

"The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there," Ashley told us, pointing behind her and back down the slope.

"You're coming with us, Williams. We need that beacon" Jane ordered her. I think she only wants to keep an eye on her.

"Aye aye, Ma'am. It's time for payback" She mumbled the last sentence darkly.

"Move out!" Jane ordered us as she walked down the slope towards the dig site.

"Welcome to the group" I smiled in encouragement.

"Thanks" she grinned, becoming more relaxed with us as we jogged to catch up with Jane and Kaidan.

When we reached them, bullets started firing as the geth ambushed at the dig site.

We all dived to cover before any of them could hit us.

A few minutes later of non-stop carnage, the geth eventually collapsed.

Scanning the area, we moved out of cover and towards the site where the beacon is…was.

There was a pedestal in the center of the dig site. That was it.

"This is the dig site. The beacon was right here. It must have been moved" Ashley told us, scanning around her for any sign of the beacon.

Either that or it shrunk. I'll opt for the former; the latter would be too much effort for one lousy beacon to do.

"By who? Our side, or the geth?" Kaidan asked Ashley.

'Yeah, like she'd know the answer Kaidan' I thought sarcastically.

"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp," Ashley told him, obviously wanting to find it as soon as possible.

'You just can't get a simple 'yes' or 'no' these days' I thought, sighing mentally.

"Let's get moving. Williams, where's the research camp?" Jane asked her, wanting to move on since there was nothing helpful left.

"It's just at the top of this ridge. Up the ramps" Ashley replied pointing to the slope at the side of the dig site.

"Well, then. Let's go," I said, holding my rifle as I began to walk up the ramp.

I heard Nihlus on the radio, talking to Jane, but it was too muffled to hear anything. It was good to hear he was okay because of my paranoia about the geth here and how many more there could be.

When I reached the top, the camp was a complete mess: crates were scattered all over the area with destroyed shacks along the edges of the area; most of them were on fire.

"Looks like they hit the camp hard" Ashley commented next to me.

"It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up" Kaidan said behind me as I scanned over the bodies on the sky-high spikes in a secluded area of the camp.

These were like the one I saw when Ashley was being attacked but different. More…blue?

Suddenly, one of the spikes lowered down to the base and, when it stopped, the body was pushed off by a blue spark and stood looking at us, arms outstretched in front of it and reaching towards us.

"Oh god! They're still alive!" Kaidan realized, holding up his rifle.

I watched in wide-eyed horror as the others lowered, pushing the bodies off as they turned to face us. They stood for a few seconds before growling and charging towards us with flailing arms.

I stood shocked fear for a few seconds before quickly firing bullet after bullet at the charging mass of…I have no idea what the hell they are. I'll just call them zombies since they remind me of the horror films I watched with my sister back on Earth, except they weren't glowing blue.

When the last dropped to the ground, Ashley still looked shocked.

"What did the geth do to them?" Ashley thought aloud, scanning over the body as they bled a dark blue liquid.

It was sickening.

Jane shrugged nonchalantly before heading to the camp shacks. I still had my gun drawn, just in case as I followed Jane to the shacks.

There was nothing in the first one except for weapon upgrades and medi-gel, which I passed to Kaidan since he was the only one who'd used one up to this point.

Heading to the second one, I noticed it was locked from the inside.

'Someone's in here…' I thought before immediately beginning to disable it.

Hacking and lock picking were a few of the invaluable skills I mastered on Earth.

"We're wasting time here" I heard Jane behind me but blocked her out. I needed to focus.

I managed to unlock the door in a few seconds since it was a basic privacy lock and opened it to see two people, a man and woman, standing inside and shaking, holding a pistol out at us.

"Humans! Thank the maker!" she sighed relieved, dropping her pistol. I smiled to her, happy to see survivors.

"Hurry! Close the door, before they come back!" the man pleaded, slouching as he looked at us in panic and depression.

"How did you end up in this shed?" Jane asked, standing next to me.

"We hid here during the attack. They must have come here for the beacon" she replied calmly. I rolled my eyes.

It would be about the beacon, wouldn't it?

"Luckily, it wasn't here. It was moved to the spaceport earlier this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp," she explained, motioning to the man next to her.

They continued to explain what happened here when the man, Manuel the woman called him, started talking about 'the age of humanity' ending.

I asked her about that and she said he has a brilliant mind but is unstable.

"Say goodnight, Manuel" Jane said to him. I looked at her confused before I realized what she meant.

"Jane!" I gasped, catching him before his head hit the ground. She just punched him in the head!

"Oh my god! What did you do?" The woman asked her, shocked, while I put Manuel on a nearby seat, checking his head.

"That might have been a little extreme, Commander" Kaidan told her.

"You think, Kaidan?" I mumbled, sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"You can't just go whacking people in the head!" the woman yelled at Jane.

"It was only a matter of time before he did something crazy. And dangerous" she reasoned, sucking out the woman's confidence as she meekly stood silent, staring at Manuel with concern.

"Still, did you have to punch him in the head?" I asked her, eyebrow rose, as I made sure he wasn't going to fall off the chair.

She just shrugged. Typical.

After talking to the woman more about the scientists and, of course, the beacon, Jane figured we wasted enough time.

"Williams, take us to the spaceport" Jane ordered her.

We all left the shack while behind us, a faint 'Good luck, Commander' was heard before the door shut with a familiar sound of a door locking.

'Thanks, we'll need it' I thought as we followed Ashley out of the research camp and down a hill beside the shacks.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard in the distance, turning my blood to ice.


	3. The Beacon

"What was that?" I panicked, frantically scanning over the spaceport below us for signs of life.

Everyone shrugged unaffected yet cautiously aimed their guns down the path as we continued to the spaceport.

We might find the owner of the gun.

We made it about hallway down the path before we saw groups of blue zombies running towards us.

We quickly gunned them down before the geth appeared.

"Damn it!" I shouted as I felt my shields go down before I had a chance to reach cover.

"Stay in cover!" Jane yelled at me as I grudgingly checked my shield generator. It was going down too fast; probably time for an upgrade.

It was only a group of 3 or 4 so the others managed to finish them off quickly.

After checking over the generator, I used the barrier to push myself off the ground and join the others.

"Problem?" Ashley asked me, checking over my armour.

"Nothing we can fix now" I told them before groaning in pain, gripping my shoulder.

"Take it easy on the shoulder, Lt" Jane ordered before we made our way down the rest of the path, coming across another locked shack.

Making quick work of the shack's lock, the process being much quicker sine it was the same as the other one, the door unlocked to reveal 3 humans: 2 men and a woman. By the clothing, I assumed they were colonist miners.

"Everybody stay calm out there. We're coming out. We're unarmed" The man in the middle spoke, arms raised and eyeing us warily.

'At least we know not everyone in the colony died today' I thought optimistically, sheathing my weapon in an attempt to relax them.

"Is it safe? Are they gone?" The woman asked Ashley nervously, probably because she recognized her.

She was about to answer 'yes' to calm her down but Jane cut me off.

"Nobody moves a muscle until we know who you are!" Jane said, coldly crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes at her antics.

"Jane, I know you don't trust people very well but do you really think they'd be stupid enough to take 4 armed and armoured people?" I asked her, incredulously.

"We'll see" was her stubborn reply, making me sigh quietly.

"Nice going, Cole. I told you we should've stayed hidden!" The other man told him, glaring at us with suspicion.

"It's okay. We're all on the same team here. We're just farmers. We've been hiding ever since that ship first showed up" Cole tried to persuade.

Jane began questioning the people about the ship and the beacon before deciding enough was enough.

"I have to go" was all she said in a bored tone. We turned and were about to leave before the other farmer spoke.

"Hey, Cole. We're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff," the farmer whispered to Cole.

"Geez, Blake. You gotta learn when to shut up!" Cole whispered harshly to Blake. I turned back, narrowing my eyes at them.

"Something you gotta tell us?" I asked them, crossing my arms.

"Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds" Cole explained in defeat.

Jane chose then to really give it to them.

"You greedy bastard! You weren't running for your life! You were running to check on your merchandise!" Jane lectured them, putting her hands on her hips.

"No, it's not like that. I just…I just knew there was some packages here. Something we could use" Cole weakly defended himself.

"I found a pistol. Figured it would come in handy if those things came back. But you'll probably get more use out of it than we will" Cole confessed, holding out a basic pistol.

"Keep it. If more of these things come back, at least you'll have something to defend yourself with," I told them. The man smiled at me in thanks, obviously grateful.

I thought we were finished here but it seemed Jane had other plans.

"I'm only going to ask this once. Think long and hard before you lie to me again. Are you sure all you've got is one lousy pistol?" Jane asked Cole, glaring.

"Uh…Oh wait. I just remembered. I just had it in my pocket. Might as well take that. That's everything, really" he told her, holding out another pistol.

"We don't need the armaments. Keep it," I told him. Jane turned to me, looking annoyed.

"Since when did you make the decisions on this mission?" she asked me.

"Since we have assault rifles, shotguns, snipers and pistols and all they have are two standard issue pistols. Do the math, Jane. We don't need them," I told her. She 'hmphed' before turning back to Cole.

"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?" Ashley asked.

"He's not a bad guy. I don't want to get him into trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!" Cole said with sudden defiance.

Surprisingly, Jane didn't pursue it.

"Okay, forget about it. I've got more important things to worry about" Jane told him before stalking off, Kaidan, Ashley and me following closely behind.

We were standing on the docks when we noticed the body of a turian.

On closer inspection, it turned out to be Nihlus.

"Oh, poor Nihlus…"I mumbled mournfully as I kneeled next to him and closed his eyes. I lifted his head, examining each angle, before I noticed the bullet wound at the back of the head. I gently lowered his head back before wiping off the blood on my hand.

'Well we now know where the gunshot came from…' I thought sadly.

'He didn't even see it coming. I wonder who shot him? He would've noticed if there was geth here and the zombies don't carry weapons. Plus, I doubt the farmers would've shot him, they wouldn't dare risk being discovered' I investigated as I continued to inspect the wound before sighing and standing up.

'I'm not going to learn anything from looking at the wound' I silently mused, crossing my arms against chill before I heard guns being drawn behind me.

I quickly turned; aiming my rifle, when I realized the group was aiming at someone or something behind the crates.

"Wait! Don't-Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human!" A man's voice said behind the crates.

I moved round the corner, rifle still drawn, to see a man panicking behind the crates, arms lifted up in defense.

"I like the way you hid behind those crates during the fight. Really helped us out. Thanks a lot" Jane praised sarcastically.

I took a moment to look at him before agreeing that even if he did try to help, he'd be dead in a few seconds.

"Me? But…but I'm just a dockworker. I don't even have a weapon!" he defended.

"Lay off him, Jane. I doubt he would've been any help anyway," I told her, shrugging.

"You're probably right," he told me, nodding his head before turning back to Jane.

"My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him," he told us.

I looked at him confused and curious. Other turian? The only things I've seen alive on this planet are geth, humans, zombies and these flying gasbag things.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jane asked, probably thinking the same.

"There were two turians here. Your friend and another one he called Saren. I think they knew each other," he explained.

"Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down…and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates" he finished.

I turned back to the body of Nihlus pitifully.

'Killed by someone he fought was an ally. Talk about bad luck' I thought to myself before turning back to the man.

"Where'd Saren go after he killed Nihlus?" I asked.

"He jumped onto the cargo train and headed over to the other platform. Probably going after the beacon," he replied, relaxing.

"I knew the beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damned mother ship showed up. Then the attack" he told us, mumbling in hatred.

"They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't hid behind these crates, I'd be dead too!" he said in panicked sadness.

"Hey, don't give up. Not everyone died," I said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"What?" He whispered, confused.

"We found a few farmers and scientists who had locked themselves in some shacks. Together, they don't make a lot of people but, at least they all didn't die," I explained, shrugging in optimism.

He smiled at me gratefully; relief filled his eyes.

"Thanks for telling me. When you're done talking to me, I'll head down there to see them. I hate being here on my own, especially with these things roaming about" he said, nervously.

I nodded, smiling. He turned back to Jane, suddenly becoming more timid of Jane's threatening form.

"Is there…is there anything else you want to ask me?" he asked Jane, cautiously. She thought for a moment, glancing away before looking back.

"No. Come on, people. We need to find that beacon before it's too late" Jane told us, leaning on her right leg.

"I'm…I'm gonna go find the others. Good luck" he said before scurrying off, looking desperate to find the others.

We began to head towards the cargo train to find the path littered with multiple geth.

"Oh, great…" I mumbled as I pulled out my rifle and began shooting, becoming more aware of my shield's strength and sticking close to cover.

We slowly made progress towards the front of the cargo train when a large geth charged towards us with a heavy shotgun firing blindly.

"What the hell!" I shouted, as it had too much momentum and ran straight past us, shooting at me and eventually breaking my shields.

Kaidan used his biotics to finish him off before it could shoot me in the head.

I laid there in patience for more shields to regenerate before getting back into the fray.

"Thanks, Kaidan. I owe you one," I shouted over the sounds of bullets as we finished off the rest of the geth and reached the end of the cargo train.

I sighed gratefully as we had a few minutes to relax. Ashley went over to talk to Jane while Kaidan walked over to me.

"Hey, Lils. You doing okay?" he asked me. I shrugged before gasping lightly. I looked at my shoulder and noticed the bullet wound.

"Heh…forgot it was there again. Guess the adrenaline held back the pain," I said while gently rubbing my shoulder. He nodded, understanding.

"So, tell me. Why did you tell him about the survivors?" he asked me curiously. I thought for a moment before replying.

"I guess I didn't want him to lose hope; I wanted him to feel there was still a chance, in a way" I answered, honestly. He smiled before patting my shoulder.

"I figured you were going to say that. You always were the one to inspire people," he told me as the platform came closer.

"Since when do I inspire people?" I asked him, smiling lightly. He shrugged.

"Well, you definitely inspired me" he replied grinning as the platform stopped and he walked of the train, not giving a second glance.

I looked at him incredulously before grinning like an idiot; walking off the train.

The grin was quickly swept away when I noticed the large ticking bomb next to the platform with groups of wires stretching in all directions.

'Oh, crap…' was the only thought in my mind as I ran to the bomb, disabling it as quickly as I could.

"There's probably more around the station," Ashley said warily.

"Well we better find them," I rushed as I jogged up the stairs only to see more geth around the bombs.

'Oh, you're kidding me…' I thought tensely as I quickly dove for cover before I saw two more of those charging geth coming towards us.

'Oh you're fucking kidding me' I cursed mentally as I swapped my rifle to my shotgun, hoping it would finish them off quickly so I could reach the bombs in time.

It was a cycle: fight geth, reach a bomb, disable it, fight geth, reach a bomb, disable it, fight geth, reach a bomb, disable it. The others barely made a dent in the enemies that was actually helpful, although I was too focused on the bombs to notice the others.

I sighed blissfully as I disabled the last of them.

"Thank god for that" I sighed in relief as I rested my forehead on the cool metal of the bomb before standing up.

"Are you sure there aren't any more bombs?" Kaidan asked, worried and scanning in all directions.

"Positive, Kaidan. Relax," I told him, sighing.

'…Well, I think there isn't' I thought causally as we reached the stairs leading to the other side of the docks.

A narrow green beam of light shot into the sky, piercing the clouds, as a slender pillar of multiple white metallic pieces floated next to each other, emitting some sort of green gas.

I thought we were finally finished when I noticed more geth and zombies walking around the docks, overcoming me with exhaustion.

I sighed drearily as Jane walked next to me.

"Well, sis" she said comforting, placing a hand on my shoulder. She does have her moments of love, thankfully.

"I don't know about you, but after this, I'm taking a looonnnggg shower" she joked smiling at me, leaning back as her bones cracked in relief.

I laughed lightly, wringing my neck before turning to her.

"You and me both, sis. Though I'm probably gonna take a nap first. I feel I can sleep for days," I confessed.

She grinned in agreement before holding up her signature shotgun.

"Well, only these things between us and relaxation" she said energetically before heading down the stairs.

"And the beacon. We can't forget the all-important beacon," I mumbled before following Jane down the stairs and joining in on the fight with increased vigor.

Sometimes during a mission, Jane'll have her moments when she'll just relax and turn back into the girl I knew on Earth.

Ever since her time with the alliance, she's changed. Take that back, ever since her time on Torfan she's changed.

I don't know what happened but it must've been something awful.

Perhaps she's just seen too many people die and just got used to it, I don't know, but she wasn't always to woman she is now.

My thoughts about Jane ended when the last geth fell cluttering to the ground as our focus turned towards the glowing beacon.

'So this is the infamous beacon…well it's big' I thought disappointedly as I examined the beacon with mild intrigue, too tired to care.

Jane walked off to the side and began calling Joker on the radio. Kaidan and Ashley stood next to me.

"This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!" Kaidan said, admiring the beacon.

"It wasn't doing anything like this when they dug it up" Ashley told us before walking over to Jane, maybe to discuss the plan.

"Something must have activated it" Kaidan mumbled going closer to it.

I turned to look at Jane to see her talking to Ashley when she glanced behind her and pointed towards the beacon.

I turned back in horror to see Kaidan being dragged. Without thinking, I sprinted towards Kaidan and shoved him out of the way, only to be dragged towards it myself. I struggled, falling to the group and gripping it with my hands; pushing with my feet, but I was lifted into the air, restrained, with images flooding my mind, mentally suffocating me.

There were destructive, bloody…just plain horrific and disturbing yet I had no idea what I was looking at. It was just mentally disconcerting to the point of hysteria.

Out of nowhere, I felt myself being shoved backwards, landing on something soft. I heard mixed, irregular voices in the distance before everything went silent, the images haunting my restless sleep.


	4. The Citadel

I moaned as I felt myself slowly become aware of my surroundings.

My body was crippled under mental pain as I felt myself waking up from the worst hangover in centuries. At some point in my suffering, I began to hear muffled voices in the background.

"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up" Kaidan's relieved voice rang through my ears, as I was able to make out the surroundings of the metallic med bay on the Normandy.

Everything started to take shape: from Doctor Chakwas's desk and chair, to the beds hidden from view by the mechanical 'blood and chemical transfusions' arms, to the various shelves stocked with painkillers, antibiotics, and multiple bandages and the basic plasters.

I slowly sat up, stretching all the kinks in my body with the accompanying cracks as I tried to focus, vision blurred by my sudden movement.

I heard fast footsteps coming towards me and turned distracted to see Doctor Chakwas walking next to me, clipboard and pen in hand.

"You had us worried there, Lieutenant. How are you feeling?" she asked me, shifting from the attached documents on the clipboard before examining me, shining a light into each of my eyes.

"Like the morning after my 21st birthday. What happened?" I asked groggily, still feeling light-headed.

"You were out for 15 hours. Something happened down there with the beacon, I think" she explained, taking away the light and adding notes to the papers. She quickly fetched a few pills and a drink from her desk before returning to me.

"This should help: it's aspirin" she explained as I took the items gratefully.

"It's my fault. I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way," he said, standing a few feet away while looking away guilty.

"There was no way you could've known what would happen, Kaidan," I said, honestly before taking the pills and gulping down the water.

Oh that hit the spot.

He seemed to brighten up a bit at my forgiveness before I turned back to the doc.

"Actually, we don't even know if that is what set it off. Unfortunately, we won't get the chance" the doc explained, shrugging.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused, as I slowly swung my legs over the edge of the bed, pressing my hands onto the bed while leaning on them heavily.

"The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe. The beacon knocked you cold. The Commander and I carried you back here to the ship," Kaidan explained, moving to stand next to me, ready to help support me while Doc went to sit at her desk.

So the all-important beacon we spent a lot of time and effort to get explodes just when we reach it. Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.

"Physically, you're fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves" Doc explained to me, reading off a report from her computer. I nodded, pretending I knew what she meant since my mind was still half asleep.

"I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming," she continued, typing at her computer before turning on her chair to face me.

The images from before immediately flashed through my mind like a fast-moving slideshow, just image after image of unrecognizable horror.

"I saw…I'm not sure what I saw, to be honest" I told her, trying to describe it while trying to block it out of my thoughts.

"It was…death, destruction…nothing's really clear" I said as the images began to fade away thankfully so I could focus on the Doc and Kaidan once more.

"Hmm, I better add this to my report. It may-" Doc stopped when the doors of the med-bay opened.

"Oh, Captain Anderson" she said, turning everyone's attention to him as Doc stood up to shake his hand.

"How's our LT holding up, Doctor?" he asked her, releasing her hand before both of them turned to me, arms crossed.

"All the reading look normal. I'd say the Lieutenant's going to be fine," she said, sending me a friendly smile.

"Glad to hear it. LT, I need to speak to you" he started before turning to the others.

"In private" he finished when no one attempted to move from their places.

Kaidan saluted while the Doc just nodded before leaving the med bay together.

When they were gone and the doors resealed, Anderson focused his attention back on me, looking concerned.

"Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Lily. You sure you're okay?" he asked, slight worry in his voice as he walked in front of me, leaning on the bed opposite with arms crossed.

I smiled in assurance and appreciation, by thoughts beginning to die down.

You see, to me, Captain Anderson was like a second father to me. Well he's second if you count that abusive alcoholic back on Earth as a father.

"I'm good, Captain. Just a little light-headed" I reassured him, feeling utter bliss when the aspirin managed to take effect.

I finally had control over my thoughts.

He nodded; a look of relief filled his eyes as he uncrossed his arms.

"Anyway, you said you wanted to talk in private, Captain" I said, curious about what he wanted.

"I won't lie to you, Lily. Things look bad: Nihlus dead, the beacon was destroyed and the geth are invading. The council's going to want answers," Anderson confessed to me. I looked at him in surprise.

"Isn't that a conversation for the Commander, Captain?" I asked, slightly confused about discussing political implications with a low-ranked officer.

"Lily, I'm certain that the Commander wouldn't give the council a second thought. It's always been this way with you two. Jane's always been the combat specialist showing little compassion for strangers; you've always been the diplomat, always looking for ways to resolve problems peacefully and only use violence if necessary" he explained offhand. I couldn't help but agree: Jane never was one for diplomacy if using your gun was quicker and easier. That's not her being reckless, she knows what her actions will do, she just does what she thinks is a necessary action.

He pushed himself off the bed before pacing to the side of the room, facing the wall with hands clasped behind his back.

"I'll stand behind you and Jane's report. You're both damned heroes in my books. But that's not why I'm here. It's Saren, that other turian," Anderson told me, his voice becoming deeper.

"Saren's a spectre, one of the best. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue" he continued, turning to face me.

"A rogue spectre's trouble. Saren's dangerous. And he hates humans" he finished. I sighed, exhausted.

"Of course, the very dangerous rogue spectre with an army of geth would have a thing against humans, wouldn't he?" I thought aloud, managing to push myself off the bed.

Anderson hummed in reply before helping to steady my balance, gripping my forearm until I could stand on my feet without help before releasing me.

"Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how. I don't know why. But it had something to do with that beacon" Anderson continued to explain.

I swear the next person who talks to me about that beacon…

"You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?" he questioned me and I thought deeply, resisting my verbally 'acidic' description of the beacon and focusing on something even worse.

I wanted to tell him about the images but what use would a bunch of unrecognizable images be to us in finding Saren? Doctor Chakwas will probably tell him about them anyway, so it wouldn't matter.

I shook my head, 'no', making him sigh before turning away.

"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it," he said calmly with an edge of determination.

"But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. The attack was an act of war!" he continued, raising his voice while turning back to me.

"He has the secrets from the beacon" he began while I held back the want to destroy any beacon I can find. I forced back the glare in my eyes, but I don't doubt that my eyes had probably darkened.

"He has an army of geth at his command, and he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy" he finished matter-of-factly, slamming his fist into his hand.

"Well, he can try, but if me and Jane get our way, he won't succeed" I crossed my arms and legs from my leaning position on the bed.

"It's not that easy, Lily, but the optimism is inspiring. He's a spectre. He can go anywhere; do almost anything. That's why we need the council on our side" Anderson explained in dismay.

"Understood, Captain" I nodded at him solemnly.

"I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel" Anderson told me before heading to the door.

"Oh, I get to meet Udina again. Brilliant…" I sarcastically grinned before dropping back into a frown.

"You'll have to learn to co-operate with the ambassador sooner or later" he reprimanded me lightly, looking over his shoulder.

"Later" I replied curtly, staring at my shoes. He sighed at my stubbornness but didn't continue.

"We should be getting close. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us into dock" Anderson ordered before the med-bay door shut behind him.

I took a deep breath, stretching my arms and legs before pushing off the bed and steadily began leaving the med-bay.

Not wasting time, I headed towards and up the stairs at a steady pace, past the galaxy map and electronic island and straight down the corridor towards the cockpit.

"Hey, Joker" I said as I came closer, then to noticed Jane sitting in the seat near him.

"Oh hey, Jane" I smiled at her as she scanned over me.

"Hey, Lils. You feeling okay?" she asked inquisitively as she stood up and walked towards me.

"Yeah, I'm good" I replied as she relaxed, returning to her seat. It was only then that I remembered Joker.

"Oh, Joker, Captain said to bring us into dock" I told him, standing in between him and Jane.

"Got it," he said as he neared the mass relay.

"Y'know a 'hello' might be nice first" he mumbled as I smirked at the side of his head.

"So I just had a talk with Doctor Chakwas. You were having a nightmare or something while you slept" she glanced at me with raised eyebrows.

"Don't know if I'd call it a nightmare. At least I'd know what I was scared of in the nightmare" I explained, shaking off the chills.

She looked at me confused before the familiar luminescent light of the mass relay shone through the windows.

"Oh, I love these things…" I mumbled in childlike awe as we flew through the relay then suddenly propelled forward, flashes of blue neon light danced passed the windows before flickering away and leaving us in Citadel space.

"Y'know something sis?" Jane asked next to me.

"What?" I asked, eyes never leaving the window.

"No matter how many times I see it," she mumbled as long arms began to show through the clouds.

"I still can't believe it's real" she finished as the whole body of the Citadel appeared alongside the Ascension and the Citadel Fleet.

Four long, silver arms protruded from the small presidium ring and towards the scattered Citadel Fleet, mainly consisting of fighters and frigates.

What stood out from the rest was the ever-vigilant Destiny Ascension: four ivory-white arms stretched outward in the shape of a plus, the arms connected by a large, hollow center: the main gun.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, pressing my hand on the window.

"I know" I turned to see Kaidan leaning over me to see the Citadel before looking down at me.

"Uh, Kaidan…" I mumbled, making a motion with my hands.

"Oh, sorry Lily" he said, giving me some space so he wasn't pressed up against me.

I blushed faintly before turning back to the Citadel.

"I'd hate to be one of the maintenance crew on that ship," Ashley said, admiring the Ascension.

I nodded in agreement.

The Ascension is one of the most amazing spacecrafts I have ever seen. It was like a massive, white floating star, in a way.

"I mean, look at the size of it!" she said in amazement.

"The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel fleet" Kaidan said, walking to stand next to Jane.

"Well size isn't everything" Joker defended. I smiled at that.

"Why so touchy, Joker?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"I'm just saying you need firepower too" he replied.

"And would that include a great pilot to top it all off?" I asked him.

"Definitely" he said, grinning.

"But look at that monster! Its main gun could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet!" Ashley argued.

"Good thing it's on our side, then" Kaidan commented just before Joker radioed the Citadel.

"Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy requesting permission to dock" he talked into the mic as we flew past the Ascension and closer to the Citadel.

Upon closer inspection, the Citadel Tower was now in focus, elongated to form the center point of the presidium ring.

"Stand by for clearance, Normandy" a man's voice replied.

I watched as we flew past many different types of cargo and fighter ships as we drew closer to the docking bay.

"Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator" the man spoke over the radio.

"Roger, Alliance tower. Normandy out" Joker said to him.

I walk away from the window and stood next to him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Normandy this is Alliance tower. Please proceed to docking bay 422" another man said on the radio.

Joker slowly brought us next to the platform where the ship-holder locked onto the sides of the ship.

"Well everyone, time to play politician," I said, clapping my hands.

"All right Lily, Kaidan, Ashley, you're coming with me and Anderson to meet the ambassador" Jane ordered us as we all left to the door.

After a long and painful walk to the embassy since Jane and Anderson refused to take the rapid transit, we finally reached the human ambassador's office.

Unfortunately, the human ambassador wasn't in a good mood.

"This is an outrage! The council would step in if the geth were attacking a turian colony!" the ambassador, Udina, yelled at the council holograms.

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the terminus systems, ambassador" The salarian councilor retorted coolly.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse" the asari councilor added.

"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue spectre. I demand action!" Udina shouted at them.

"You don't get to make demands of the council, ambassador" the turian councilor spoke with authority and little patience.

"Citadel security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before" the asari finished before the holograms of the council faded away.

Udina stood staring at where they used to be before turning to me, Jane and Anderson.

"So how'd the meeting go?" I asked cheerfully. He glared at me before turning to Anderson.

"Well, Captain Anderson" he said with disdain.

"I see you brought half your crew with you" he said, motioning to Kaidan and Ashley.

"If you think this is half his crew, I'm appalled at your math skills" I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

I know him and his type too well. He likes talking down to people to make him feel more powerful. Well not today, my friend.

"This is the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions" Anderson told him, silently reprimanding me with his glare in my direction, silencing me.

My eyes wandered around the enclosed, bare-white office: various plant pots decorated the floors while a large desk and chair sat in the center of the room, in front of the door. To the right of the desk was a glass wall, separating a meeting area and a large plasma TV.

Opposite the door's wall was a wall-less balcony, overlooking the presidium, which is showered I constant daylight and perfect holographic weather.

Large pond areas with statues of various items and people landmarked each lake while white office and business buildings formed the walls of the presidium. Apart from the people, only plant life and advertisements gave any colour to the buildings and bridges stretching over the lakes.

"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" he asked Anderson, his frustration bringing me back to the conversation.

"Nah, we just decided to write about something that never really happened so you would call this meeting for no reason whatsoever," I confessed, looking at him blankly, his voice sparking hatred.

"Can you at least try and act like an adult, Lieutenant. I know you're probably not used to being mature but do try," he said before turning back to Anderson.

I stared at him shocked before sending him an icy glare.

"They were not happy about Saren being accused of treason. He's their top agent," he explained in more detail, brushing off my glare.

"I'm not going to sit on my ass jut because the council doesn't want to do anything. If they won't stop Saren, I will" Jane stepped in, sending a glare towards Udina. I guess we found a common enemy.

"Settle down, Commander. Your actions have already jeopardized your candidacy for the spectres" Udina retorted, glaring back at Jane.

"We better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up some compelling evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise, the council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the spectres" Udina continued ranting before turning back to Anderson.

"Come, Captain. I want to go over a few things with you before the hearing. Commander, meet us with your crew at the citadel tower. I'll grant you access," he said before he led Anderson out of the office.

I turned back to everyone else. Ashley shook her head while staring at the doorway before turning back to us.

"And that's why I hate politicians" she told us. I nodded.

"So we all agree then: Udina's a bastard" I asked them. They all nodded before Jane led us out of the office.


	5. The Reunion

"Honestly, Jane, the rapid transit is there for a reason" I tried to tell her but she ignored me completely.

I've been trying to convince her to use it for ages because it's quicker and more efficient but she's just too stubborn.

"Getting lazy on us, LT?" Ashley joked, nudging me with her elbow.

"No. I just think that if there is a free fast-travel way to get to someplace then we might as well use it" I defended as we entered the elevator leading up to the top of citadel tower.

"There's no harm in walking" Jane told me in a no-use-in-arguing tone as the elevator started to lift.

"There's no harm in using rapid transit, either," I retorted as the elevator stopped.

As the doors opened, it revealed a large, dimly lit hall, with barely lit buildings forming the edges of the hall and a circular fountain in the center of the path up to the Council hearing chamber.

The patches of light highlighting the buildings and the symmetrically lined trees and benches gave an eerie feeling to the hall, but I doubt the expensively dressed diplomats and aristocrats would notice.

"Nice décor" I mumbled as we walked around the fountain. The water looked absolutely refreshing and cooled my fingertips as I brushed against the waters surface.

When we reached the other side of the fountain and the base of the steep staircase, we noticed two turians arguing at the top.

"Saren's hiding something! Give me some time. Stall them," a frustrated turian ordered, pleading with the other turian. That voice…

"Stall the council? Don't be ridiculous! You're investigation is over, Garrus" the other one spoke with authority to Garrus.

'Garrus…where have I heard that name before?' I thought as the other turian walked away and Garrus turned to us.

I looked up at his face and I instantly felt like I've met him before.

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian" he introduced himself.

'Garrus?' I thought, starting to remember him.

"I was the officer in charge of…Lily? Is that you?" he asked me, looking me up and down.

"Garrus?" I asked, walking towards him to get a closer look.

His reptilian eyes watched me; one peering at me from behind a purple visor. It was the visor that made me remember as I smiled brightly.

"Garrus!" I said, immediately hugging him. He quickly returned the hug as we lingered in our sudden reunion.

Before I was recruited, I met Garrus at a park back on Earth. He was there arresting the leader of my gang who pulled a coup on the Citadel.

I helped, although hesitantly.

We got to know each other a little bit in the time before he left to go back to the Citadel. I can safely call him a great friend.

"It's so good to see you!" I said, pulling back with an ecstatic grin.

"I can't believe it's you. I mean it's been, what? 10 years since I last saw you?" I asked, crossing my arms loosely.

"Yeah, maybe. It was back on Earth I last saw you," he told me, gripping my forearms gently.

"Uh, Lily" Jane said, standing next to me while looking at Garrus with suspicion.

"Jane, you remember Garrus don't you? The turian we met on Earth?" I asked her.

She shook her head; I could see the gears in her head turn as she tried to remember until a calm glare took place.

"Oh yeah, the one that tried to arrest you. I remember" she rolled her eyes at the recollection.

"Well, she was under-aged drinking, smoking…" he defended, making me swat his arm.

"Anyway, it's good to see you again, Lils" he said, giving me a turian smile.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kaidan flinch. Brushing it off, I returned Garrus's smile.

"Good to see you too, Garrus. Maybe I'll see you later?" I asked. I hope I would, I'd love to spend time with Garrus and catch up on things.

"Definitely" he said, glancing towards the group before focusing back on me, his mandibles twitching.

"I think the council is ready for us, Commander" Kaidan's voice cut off any other conversation when Shepard nodded and headed towards the hearing chamber, where Anderson stood watching us and the distant figures of the council and Udina in the chamber.

A large holographic figure illuminated the chamber but I couldn't make out whom it was.

I followed behind the group but not before waving goodbye to Garrus.

"Good luck, Commander. Maybe they'll listen to you," he yelled behind us.

When I turned back, I noticed Kaidan waiting for me. When I caught up with him, we fell in sync while he began to probe me for information.

"Who was that guy?" he asked me, sounding curious but with a hidden motive underneath it.

"Garrus Vakarian. He's a C-Sec officer and an old friend back on Earth. He's one of the best snipers I've ever met," I said, glancing at him. He looked like he didn't believe me.

"Why?" I asked him, wondering why he wanted to know.

"I don't trust him," he stated. One thing I've learned about Kaidan is that he never distrusts anyone without a reason, no matter how stupid the reason may be.

I turned back to face Shepard to see her go onto the platform with Anderson to meet Udina at the other end who was talking with the council and the hologram, which I could now tell was a turian, most likely Saren.

"The geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way" the asari told Udina exasperated.

"The investigation turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," the turian added, brushing off Udina's narrow eyes.

"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Uldina argued fiercely.

"We've read the Eden Prime reports, ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof" the salarian objected in a bored tone.

"I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow spectre. And a friend" Saren told the council, obviously fishing for sympathy.

Of course he had to add that in, didn't he?

"That just let you catch him off-guard!" Anderson retorted, trying to win this argument. I decided to add my voice.

"Bullet wound to the back of the head suggests a surprise attack. He would have noticed any obvious enemies and snipers wouldn't have penetrated his shields that quickly enough to lay a headshot at the back. It had to be up close," I explained confidently, earning everyone's attention.

"And who are you?" the salarian asked as I matched his stare.

"Lieutenant Shepard" Anderson replied as I stood next to him, hands clasped tightly behind my back.

"Well, Lieutenant. Although your reasoning is solid, it still doesn't implicate Saren in any way. Only that it was a surprise attack," the asari explained reasonably.

I nodded, feeling a little put out that the info didn't help the situation at all and the fact that Saren was getting away with murder, and worse.

"Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You're not ready to join the council. You're not even ready to join the spectres!" Saren said, doing a glare contest against Jane, neither contestant conceiting to defeat.

"He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!" Udina argued against Saren.

"Shepard's admission to the spectres is not the purpose of this meeting" the asari told Saren, trying to stay on topic.

"This meeting has no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, Councilor. And mine" he finished impatiently, crossing his arms.

"You can't hide behind the council forever" Jane glared threateningly at Saren. I think she was starting to realize that we weren't going to win this argument.

Not yet anyway.

"There's still one outstanding issue. Lieutenant Shepard's vision" Anderson told everyone. Guess he talked to Doc before leaving the Normandy with us.

"It may have been triggered by the beacon," he explained. He was fighting the already-made decision.

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?" Saren argued.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I agree with Saren. There's no way they'd accept my dream as evidence. Anderson was trying to fight a losing battle.

"I agree. Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation," the turian agreed with Saren.

"Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" the salarian asked Jane.

She looked towards me and I shook my head sadly. We've lost. She turned back to the council.

"You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath" Jane answered, looking down.

The asari and the turian exchanged their answers before turning back to us.

"The council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him removed from the spectres is rejected" the asari concluded.

"I am glad to see justice was served" Saren said, staring at me victoriously before fading away.

"This meeting is adjourned" the asari said before the council began to leave their podiums and exited to their personal chambers.

I stared at the floor before joining everyone else at the bottom of the stairs.

"It was a mistake bringing you to the hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. I made the council question our motives" Udina told Anderson accusatorily.

"I know Saren. He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race" Anderson told us, ignoring Udina.

"Why would the geth be listening to Saren? If they wanted us dead, they would have tried already instead of staying in the Perseus veil" I questioned him.

"I don't know why but what other reason is there?" he asked me.

I shrugged in reply.

"Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe" Anderson explained to us grimly.

"We need to deal with Saren ourselves," Jane said finally.

"As a spectre, he's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him," Udina thought aloud.

"What about Garrus, that C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor," Ashley suggested.

I could see Kaidan shake his head and I looked at him, confused. He just shrugged at me, as if it was obvious why he was hesitant.

"He's a turian. I don't want him on our side" Jane told Ashley. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you want him on Saren's? Jane, if he has information against Saren, we'll need it. Besides, I know Garrus he's trustworthy, trust me on this one" I told Jane. She sighed but slowly nodded.

"I have a contact in C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down. His name is Harkin" Uldina told us but Anderson quickly refused.

"Forget it. They suspended Harkin a month ago. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser" Anderson objected.

"You won't have to. I don't want the council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this" Udina ordered.

"Oh, sure. Leave us to do all the work. No biggy, I don't mind wasting my time talking to a drunkard" I replied sarcastically.

"I meant your sister. I wouldn't trust you to do anything important, least of all trying to find evidence against Saren" Uldina argued, turning back to Anderson.

'Damn that politician' I thought as he started talking to Anderson.

"I need to take care of some business. Captain, meet me in my office later" Udina ordered before stalking off.

Anderson turned to the rest of us.

"Harkin's probably getting drunk at Chora's den. It's a dingy little club in the lower sections of the wards," Anderson informed us.

"I thought you said he was a drunken loser?" Jane asked him.

"Couldn't hurt to go talk to him. Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable" Anderson explained. I smiled inwardly. I bet he just wanted to argue with Udina. I would.

"I should go" Jane told Anderson, probably wanting to get this over with.

"Good luck, Shepard. I'll be over in the ambassador's office if you need anything else" Anderson said before walking away. Jane turned to us, cracking her knuckles into her hands.

"Alright, you heard the man. Let's visit Harkin and Chora's den" Jane said before leading us back to the fountain.

"You know, Jane. Chora's den is a looonnnggg way to walk," I told her offhand. She turned to look at me and followed my line of sight. She sighed before looking at me.

"Just this once" she agreed angrily.

I smiled at her before we walked over to the rapid transit station.

Unfortunately, there were only three seats.

"So one of us is sitting on someone?" Ashley asked.

"Looks that way," I said

"So who?" she asked as we all looked at each other. I think you can guess what happened.

"I'm so sorry, Kaidan" I said, blushing as I sat on his lap.

"No, it's…*cough, cough* it's ok, really" he tried to speak. I blushed more when I realized where his head was facing.

'Oh god, help me' I prayed as I tried to keep my chest away from his face. You see, the front chairs were too far back so I couldn't face forward.

It was the only option.

"So, do you want to use the transit again?" Jane asked me as she and Ashley tried not to laugh but failed.

'So much for maturity' I glared at her as I felt my face go red. I was secretly happy to see Jane laugh though: we may be soldiers with battle scars but we can still act like teenagers when the moment's right.

They both burst out laughing as the car landed near the wards. When the door opened, I quickly got off of Kaidan's lap as I tried to cool down my face. I turned around to see Kaidan's face had gone slightly red as well.

"I'm so sorry Kaidan" I managed to say, looking away. I couldn't look him in the eye right now.

"It's ok," he mumbled, rubbing his neck before following Jane and Ashley down to the wards.

I sighed before joining the others. I've never been more embarrassed in my whole life.

We walked through the wards before reaching Chora's den where assassins greeted us. That's right: assassins.

Not the cool ones that where white robes and jump all over the place, just the ones that try to kill you without style.

They weren't even that good since we dispatched them quickly.

"Well that was disappointing" Ashley snorted, watching the floating body of one of the assassins that had the unfortunate luck of being hit by Kaidan's biotic lift and eventually dropped over the edge and down to the dark depths of the station.

"If that's the welcoming committee, I wonder why this place is popular," I thought aloud as we finally entered Chora's den.

Asari dancers wearing extremely tight black and red body suits were littered everywhere around the circular club, lit up by the orange lights while deep bass music livened the room. A central mini bar stood tall with various types of alcohol and wine glasses.

"Hmm" Ashley said as we walked round the club bar to see a human sitting alone on the table, sending sleazy looks to Ash and Jane.

"That's must be Harkin" I eyed him in disgust before pointing to the table when a turian caught my eye.

"General Septimus?" I mumbled. I could recognize him from anywhere because of the distinct white tattoos on his face and the scar along his mandible.

When the others headed over to interrogate Harkin, I walked over to see the general.

"Lieutenant Shepard? Humph. What do you want?" he asked me with a slur in his voice. I looked at him with pity and disappointment.

"What are you doing here, General?" I asked him, confused.

"What do you think? Drinking my misery away," he gargled before taking a gulp from his beer bottle.

"What's gotten you miserable?" I asked sincerely, sitting in the chair opposite him.

He was silent for a few moments before talking.

"I've seen many horrible things in my lifetime, and I've just been rejected by the one woman in the whole damn galaxy who helps me forget them" he mumbled, staring at his drink.

"Well, you could try men" I joked lightly but a glare from him quickly silenced me.

"Look, you're a proud general of the turian fleet. Not some drunken loser who spends all his money at dumps like this" I told him, motioning to the bar next to us.

"What do you care?" he asked me.

"I care because people like you who give the military a bad name. These people expect you to protect them, not get wasted staring at asari dancers" I told him, honestly. He stared at the drink for a few moments before nodding slowly.

"You're right…I've gotta get out of here. I not going to sit here wallowing over a woman" he agreed before looking up at me, lifting his drink.

"Here's to soldiers acting like soldiers," he said before drinking the last of the beer and standing up.

"It's people like you who make the military proud, lieutenant" he nodded in respect before leaving the bar; his head held high.

I got off the stool considerably happier and noticed Jane and the group coming towards me.

"What was that about?" she asked me, motioning to the retreating general.

"Nothing, just making a turian see the error of his ways," I told her.

"Can you do that with Saren?" she joked. I laughed lightly before we left Chora's den, hopefully for the last time.

As we walked down the pathway towards the Ward Markets, I was unnerved by the disappearance of the assassins' bodies before I remembered the one that fell over the edge while I chuckled at the body of the still-floating assassin being flattened against the ceiling.

Talk about being inconspicuous.


	6. The Krogan Bounty Hunter

"Okay, so what did Harkin say?" I asked Shepard as we entered the ward markets, still chuckling silently over the floating body.

"Besides flirting with me," she bit out, despising the attention she was given.

"He said that Garrus was helping some doctor at the med-clinic in the wards," she replied calmly as we walked past a man arguing with a turian over a receipt.

"Do you know why?" I asked her, my eyes flying over the cluttered market stalls surrounding us, blinding me with a myriad of colours and items ranging from toy ships to fish to weaponry.

To top it all off, the viewing area at the back of the market area had a spectacular view of the ward arms and space itself.

Beautiful is an understatement.

"No, he didn't say. I think he was too busy looking me over than to think of a reason why" she replied casually, venom lacing her words at the mention of him.

By now, we had left the marketplace and passed the entrance to Flux, eccentric beats hypnotizing many of the civilians towards its bar and casino it seemed.

Although by now, the view of the ward arms had enraptured me to the point that it was mentally blocking the music from reaching my ears.

"It's unbelievable," I whispered breathlessly, leaning against the railing.

Lights and ant-sized movement from the shuttles brought the ward arms to life while the presidium ring glowed a dull white, carrying the spiraling citadel tower where the pretentious Council sat in wait.

"It's amazing how the stop all that mass from falling apart" Kaidan commented behind me, distracting me from the view, as Jane leaned on the railing next to me.

"It is impressive" Jane praised, admiring the construction.

"Makes Jump Zero look like a Porte-john" Ashley joked, looking over our shoulders.

"Jump Zero was big, but this is a whole other scale" Kaidan stared in awe.

"C'mon enough gawking. We need to find Garrus" Jane interrupted as we left the viewing area.

"The Med Clinic is just down there" I motioned with my head at the pathway going past C-Sec.

"Let's go" Jane ordered as we fell in sync, following Jane's lead, as we passed C-Sec and was right outside the clinic when a small group of drunk humans appeared, who had all their eyes on Jane.

"Just arrested? Because it must be illegal to look that fine, girl" one of them leered as Jane brushed him off.

"Damn! Are those real?" another one slurred, holding a whiskey bottle while pointing at Jane's chest.

She stopped mid-step and started to laugh darkly before turning to face them.

"They are real" she smiled before dropping it while quickly pulling out her shotgun in a matter of seconds.

"So is this shotgun," she added, aiming at the man who quickly dropped the bottle.

"You psycho, girl" he yelled before shuffling away, along with the rest of the group.

"Hmm, surprised you didn't hit him" I told her as we stood in front of the door.

"Weren't worth the effort" she shrugged at me as the door opened to reveal Garrus crouching behind the counter, holding a standard-issue pistol.

I looked at him weirdly before realizing what was happening.

The doctor was surrounded by a group of men with guns.

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" the doctor told the man in front of her as she struggled against her captor's grip in a panic.

"That was smart, Doc" he replied, holding his pistol next to his head.

"Now, if Garrus comes along, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-"he stopped when the door behind us closed and he turned to us, looking surprised and angry.

'Perfect timing; thanks for that' I thought as I glared behind me at the door.

He quickly pulled the doctor in front of him and pointed the gun at Jane.

"Who are you!" he demanded, switching targets between the rest of the group.

Suddenly, Garrus swirled around the counter and shot a bullet in between his eyes.

Immediately, everyone's gun was drawn as we instinctively ran to cover. Noticing a fire container at the end of the room, I shot it a few times until it blew up, blasting everyone near the boxes in a fiery blaze, leaving only two men left which we quickly dispatched with Garrus's aid.

Once they were all dead, we put away our guns and walked over to Garrus, who was examining the doctor.

"Perfect timing, Shepard. Gave me a clear shot at the bastard" he thanked us.

"You took him down clean," Jane praised, impressed by his marksman skills

"Sometimes you get lucky" Garrus shrugged before crossing his arms.

"Shepard, he could have hit the hostage!" Kaidan argued, obviously not happy with his stunt.

"Kaidan, you should've seen Garrus at target practice on Earth. He never missed a headshot" I defended, though I was a little nervous about it.

"Neither did you if I recall" Garrus added, looking at me. I shrugged, giving a goofy grin.

"Sometimes you get lucky" I joked. He chuckled before turning back to the doctor.

"Dr. Michel, are you hurt?" he asked her.

"No, I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you" she thanked gratefully, though she was still shaking, while looking at all of us, Garrus and Jane in particular.

"Why were they threatening you? Who do they work for?" Jane asked her impatiently.

'Straight to the point as always' I thought as the doctor began explaining.

"They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian" she explained.

"There's a quarian here? I haven't seen a quarian in years" I thought aloud; Kaidan and Ashley nodded in agreement.

"Does this have anything to do with the investigation into Saren?" Jane asked Garrus.

"I think it might. Dr. Michel, tell us what happened" Garrus asked her.

"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run" she told us with sympathy ringing in her words.

"She asked me about the shadow broker. She wanted to exchange information for a safe place to hide," she continued.

"The shadow broker? No one ever sees him in person except his agents probably" I mumbled in thought. He's the best information broker in the galaxy; always selling information to the highest bidder.

"Where is she now?" I asked her, bringing myself back into the conversation.

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the shadow broker" Michel replied, slowly lowering herself into a chair.

"Not anymore. Now he works for Saren, and the shadow broker isn't too happy about it," Garrus added, helping Michel into her chair.

"Fist betrayed the shadow broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer," Michel said, shaking her head before thanking Garrus for the help.

"That quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the shadow broker to get," Garrus concluded, turning back to us.

"Something that could tie him to what happened on Eden Prime" I suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement as we began devising a plan in our minds.

"Did the quarian mention something about Saren? Or the geth?" Jane interrogated.

"She did! The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the geth" Michel replied, more calm now.

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth. There's no way the council can ignore this!" Garrus told us victoriously.

"Time we paid Fist a visit," Jane smirked.

"Couldn't agree more, sister," I told her, smiling.

"This is your show, Shepard. But I want to stop Saren as much as you do. I'm coming with you" Garrus told her confidently.

"You're a turian. Why do you want to bring him down?" Jane asked him, obviously suspicious about him.

"I couldn't find the proof needed in my investigation. But I knew something was going on. Saren's a traitor to the council and a disgrace to my people!" Garrus explained with detest against the turian.

"Come on, Jane. We need all the help we can get and I can vouch for Garrus, personally" I added, hopeful that she'd give in.

She thought for a moment before replying.

"You can come along. But I'll be watching you!" she told him cautiously but I doubt she really meant it. I think she was more trusting with Garrus because I was vouching for him.

I nodded in thanks before she turned and left the med-clinic.

Ashley joined her and Kaidan followed but not before sending a light glare to Garrus.

Garrus returned the look as we followed behind.

"Okay, one of you needs to go back to the ship. I need a small group with me at all times but it's getting a bit too big for my tastes" Jane explained her discomfort before turning to Ashley.

"Ash, report back to the ship" she ordered.

"Aye aye, ma'am" she saluted before heading to the rapid transit station.

"Shepard? Before we go to Fist, the shadow broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to go after him" Garrus informed us.

"A krogan might come in handy" Jane agreed immediately. I rolled by eyes at seeing the spark in her eyes.

As long as I have remembered, Jane has always had a thing for krogan, mainly because they can regenerate their health quickly and their impressive up close fighting style, which Jane adopted during her Alliance training.

"Last I heard, he was a C-Sec academy," Garrus told us.

Jane nodded before heading towards the steps leading towards the C-Sec elevator.

"So why is he at C-Sec academy, anyway?" I asked Garrus, though the answer was obvious.

"Wrex was caught making threats at Fist's bar. They brought him in for a little talk" Garrus explained.

'I doubt talking is all they're doing' I thought, shaking my head slightly. I never agreed to this sort of 'aggressive interrogation' but it is a krogan so I doubt it will do much anyway.

"Wonder how they even think they can accomplish it? Having a 'talk' with a krogan is like a mouse having a 'talk' with a cat. It's never going to work and they'll most likely kill you," I told him as we all entered the elevator and started moving to C-Sec.

"C-Sec always follows regulations no matter how stupid they may be" he replied. Ever since I've met him, he's always hated rules and regulations that kept him from doing his job. He knows they're there for a reason but he just feels caged by them. One of the few confessions he made to me on Earth.

While we waited in the elevator, I took the time to examine him: he hasn't changed much. A turian C-Sec uniform armour was strapped around his body with a small amount weaponry: mainly standard-issue except for the sniper, which looked very expensive.

His unique purple visor glowed on his face, highlighting his blue markings.

He looked handsome for a turian but I'd never tell him; his ego is big enough as it is.

Eventually, the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing the C-Sec entrance hall.

Almost everything had a blue hue from the walls, to the floors, to the C-Sec officers walking around the hall. All except for the scattered plant life on the floor and hanging from the ceiling. Rows of floor and ceiling lights made it look like a disco hall while the room was packed with every race. Now, it's time to address the elephant in the room.

It honestly wasn't that hard to find the krogan since he was the only krogan in the whole hall.

We walked over to them and overheard the argument, which was a surprise in itself because of the noise in here.

"Witnesses caught you making threats at Fist's bar. Stay away from him" the human officer ordered with a deep threat in his voice.

"I don't take orders from you" Wrex retaliated, brushing off the threat with his deep voice.

"This is your only warning, Wrex" the man glared which Wrex returned.

"You should warn Fist. I will kill him," he argued. I didn't know any better; I'd think he was amused.

"You want me to arrest you?" the man sighed, making Wrex chuckle.

"I want you to try" he dared him before noticing us, his blood red, reptilian eyes honing in on Jane.

He walked past the officer, glaring at him, and made his way towards us.

"Go on. Get out of here" the man ordered before walking away.

"Yes, human?" he asked Jane, eyeing her curiously.

"I'm going to take down Fist. You want to come?" she asked bluntly.

"Fist is my kill, human," he told her, narrowing his eyes.

"Then come with us" she replied, crossing her arms.

He stood for a moment, staring/glaring at each other, before replying.

"There's an old saying in my people. Find the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend," he smirked before shaking hands with Jane.

"Welcome to the team, Wrex" Jane said surprisingly happy before heading back to the elevator.

'Wow, that was quick' I thought as we went into the elevator.

"Okay, we're having the same problem we had at the med-clinic. Kaidan, report back to the ship" Jane ordered.

He seemed slightly reluctant before nodding his head. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened at the base of the stairs back up to the rest of the wards, he slowly made his way to the rapid transit.

'Wonder what's gotten into him' I thought concerned as Jane led us towards the stairs leading to the markets.

I felt eyes on me and turned to see Kaidan glaring at Wrex and Garrus before entering the car and flying off.

Feeling a little awkward, I quickly turned back to the others as we cut back through the markets towards Chora's den.

When we reached the outside of the club, everything was quiet.

Really quiet.

"I don't like this, sis" I whispered to her as we enter the club. Immediately, bullets started flying towards us.

"Damn!" I shouted as I tried to reach cover but failed. They were everywhere and there was no suitable cover. Luckily, we had Jane and Wrex. They charged their way around the bar, shooting all of them with their shotguns.

Me and Garrus managed to pick off a few while Jane and Wrex finished off the rest.

We went down a side corridor in the club and opened the end door.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" one of the two men said, both of them pointing their guns.

"Warehouse workers. All the real guards must be dead" Garrus said, eyeing the men in amusement.

"Stay back or we'll shoot" the other man said, slightly shaking.

Before I told them to get out of here before Jane shoots them, she beat me to it.

"I just killed fifty bodyguards out there. What do you think I'll do to you?" she threatened them, toying around with her shotgun.

"Uh…well…Uh" he spoke but couldn't finish.

"Aw, screw Fist. He doesn't pay us enough for this" the other man said before they walked away.

'Well, she didn't shoot them. That was nice of her' I thought optimistically as they disappeared around the corner.

"I would've shot them" Wrex commented.

"Shooting people isn't always the answer" Garrus told him.

'Wisely said' I thought as we walked the rest of the corridor and into Fist's office.

"Why do I have to do everything myself? Time to die, little soldiers!" Fist shouted as two turrets rose next to him while he began shooting at us with a pistol.

"They never go the easy way, do they?" I shouted at Jane over the fire of bullets.

"Yeah but this is the fun way!" she shouted ecstatically in reply as she fired at the turrets.

"Well said, Shepard!" Wrex praised her as he took down one of the turrets.

Eventually, with the help of Jane and Wrex's shotguns, the turrets were destroyed, leaving only Fist to deal with.

Fist himself wasn't that hard to deal with without the help of the turrets. He went down in around a minute or so. I mean he only had a pistol and basic armour. What did you expect?

He was barely breathing as we went over to question him.

"Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!" He pleaded, clutching his side.

He obviously hasn't seen Jane's 'mercy'. Pointing a gun at his head, she began to question him.

"Tell me where the quarian is and I won't have to shoot you in the kneecaps" she ordered him.

"She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" he answered, weeping.

"He's lying" Garrus told her before kicking him in his ribs.

'Garrus!' I stared in shock at him.

"Put a round in his leg. See if he talks" she told Wrex who nodded.

"Wait! Wait! I don't know where the quarian is, but I know where you can find her" he confessed, panicked.

"The quarian isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the shadow broker himself," he confessed to Jane.

"Impossible. The shadow broker only works through his agents; he's never seen in person" Garrus retold what I'd said at the med clinic.

"If that's the case, he knows what the shadow broker looks like" I said, turning to Fist.

"I don't know, I've never seen him!" he told me.

"How do you know it's a 'he'?" I asked him. He was silent for a few moments before shaking his head.

"I…I don't know" he told me. I could tell he was lying. I sighed.

"Whatever. It's not important. Right now, we need to find the quarian," I thought aloud. Fist slowly stood up in front of Jane.

"Nobody meets the shadow broker. Ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up," he told Jane.

"But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her" he finished.

Jane moved towards him, pointing the gun at his head.

"Tell me where that meeting is before I blow your lying head off!" she threatened.

"Here on the wards. The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry" Fist talked quickly, probably wanting the gun at his head to go away.

"Too many people died here, Fist. You don't get to walk away," Jane said, hovering over the gun's trigger.

Before she could pull the trigger, another gun was fired and landed a bullet in Fist's head.

We all turned to see Wrex holding a pistol before putting it away.

"I told you, Shepard. Fist was mine," he eyed her, daring her to argue with him. She nodded; looking a little irritated but let it slide.

I told you that she had a thing for krogans.


	7. The Quarian Machinist

"Come on, Shepard. We need to find that quarian. And fast" Garrus said nervously as we jogged out of Fist's office and back into the corridor.

"So he said she was meeting them at the back alley near the markets" I said before a bullet flew past my head, making me jump back.

"Shit!" I shouted as I scanned around to see more guards in the bar.

Using the same tactics as before, we finished them off quickly knowing that any second the quarian could give away the evidence crucial in proven Saren's treachery. After we eliminated them, we quickly ran out of the bar.

"Come on, Jane. We're running out of time!" I told her as we opened the door to the back alley, sprinting up the staircase, to see the quarian talking to a turian.

"Did you bring it?" the turian asked her. Bright white markings were the only thing visible under his hood.

"Where's the shadow broker? Where's Fist?" the quarian asked him, backing away slightly.

"They'll be here. Where's the evidence?" he asked, brushing his hand down her body.

"No way. The deal's off" She said, swatting his hand away.

He motioned behind her and we both looked to see armoured salarians walk towards her.

She backed away, noticing her situation before throwing something behind her and running towards the crates. A second later, the salarians were blown away.

I quickly took out my rifle and ran down the small flight of stairs to help her against Saren's agents.

Call it force of habit or instinct but I like to help people in need. I guess working in the Alliance does that to you.

I tried to support loads of charities back on Earth but being poor didn't help me out a lot when it came to donations. I was lucky to have a roof over my head, but that's a story for another time.

I noticed the others take out their chosen weapons and we soon defeated them with the quarian's help, the end of the fight being Wrex crushing the agent into the wall.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" she shouted angrily before turning to us.

"Thank you. My name is Tali, and you are?" she said in a more calm tone though she was still aggravated.

"You've got proof Saren is working with the geth. Hand it over" Jane demanded, reaching out to the quarian. I rolled my eyes at her aggression.

"Jane, be nice. You saw what happened when she felt threatened by those guys," I told her before I looked back at the quarian.

"Sorry about that, my sister isn't what you'd consider a people's person" I apologized.

Jane turned to look at me questionably.

"She has the evidence. We need it" she defended before turning back to the quarian.

"Consider it a 'Thank you' for us helping you" she told her, crossing her arms.

"Not so fast. Who are you?" Tali asked her, eyeing Wrex behind us who were wiping non-existent dust off his shoulder.

"I don't have time for questions. I need the evidence against Saren" Jane told her impatiently.

She stood silent for a moment before replying hesitantly.

"I guess I do owe you. But not out here in the open. We need to go someplace safe," she told us, motioning around the alley.

"The ambassador's office. It's safe there plus he'll want to see this anyway" I told Jane, although the less I have to see the ambassador, the better.

She nodded before turning back to the quarian and walking past her towards the door, motioning her to follow.

The rest of us followed her out of the alley way and towards the elevator leading to the presidium.

While we waited, I had a better look at our newest arrivals.

Wrex, from what I remember from books, is an adult at least 300 years old because of the rouge-coloured head crest that covered the top of his head before curving upwards slightly.

He's also been in a few fights; could tell from the massive scar running from his crest to the base of his neck, making it look like someone had scratched his face deeply with claws.

A large hump formed his back and was loaded with equipment like a weapon rack on top of the purple-red armour that covered almost every inch of his body, from the top of the egg-shaped hump to his stubby legs and three-toed feet.

He was a living battering ram.

Tali was the complete opposite of Wrex: instead of armour, she wore a dark purple environment suit which covered all her body and a large purple mask hid her face, except for the blurred white light of her eyes.

Multiple pieces of cloth with a myriad of patterns were strapped across her body, one of them formed a large hood that hung over her mask and down her back, and they were tied together by strips of harnesses where her pistol and shotgun were hung from her body.

Her legs and arms were covered in metal with small pipes leading up and down them.

On closer inspection, the light glint on her leg revealed a hidden knife on her left leg.

"This will be interesting," I mumbled, imagining the look on Udina's face when a krogan and a quarian stroll into his office.

We quickly walked through the presidium, passing the statue of the mass relay and towards the embassy, up the flight of stairs, and into Udina's office, where Udina and Anderson were standing near his desk.

"You're not making this easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's den? Do you know how many-" he began his lecture but stopped when he noticed the quarian and krogan.

"Who are they? A quarian? A krogan? What are you up to, Shepard?" he questioned Jane while staring at them, backing off slightly.

'Well that was a disappointing reaction' I thought sadly, hoping to see him more panicked.

"This quarian can help us bring down Saren. She would've told you that if you hadn't started lecturing her" Jane told him, irritated. I grinned in shock at Jane defending her; even Tali was surprised.

"Wow, sis. Wish I could say that and not get done" I smirked happily.

"Nice to see you again, Lieutenant" he said through gritted teeth.

"Likewise" I said, narrowing my eyes at him but the smirk wouldn't leave my face.

He returned the look, without the grin obviously, before turning back to Jane.

"Anyway, I apologize for that, Commander. This whole thing with Saren has me a bit on edge" he apologized though by the sound of it, he didn't mean a word of it.

He turned back to the quarian.

"Maybe we should start at the beginning, Miss…?" he asked her, motioning for her to speak.

"My name is Tali. Tali Zorah nar Rayya" she introduced herself proudly.

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" he asked her cautiously.

"I was on my Pilgrimage. My rite of passage into adulthood" she explained to us.

"Where's the proof you promised?" Jane asked her bluntly.

I sighed before looking at Tali apologetically.

"Sorry about that. My sister is not known for her patience," I told her.

She nodded before turning to Jane.

"During my travels, I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the veil. I was curious" Tali explained.

"I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core," she continued.

'She must have a knack for technology' I thought impressed as Anderson began talking.

"I thought the geth fried their memory core when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism" Anderson told her, pacing around the desk.

"How did you manage to preserve the memory core?" Jane asked curiously.

"My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful, and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved," Tali explained, examining her gloves.

"Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks" she said before pressing a few buttons on her Omni-tool.

Suddenly, Saren's voice was heard.

"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit" he said victoriously.

"That's Saren's voice. This proves he was involved in the attack!" Anderson rejoiced.

"We've got him!" I said, happy that we've finally found the evidence we need.

"Wait…there's more. Saren wasn't working alone" she said mysteriously before pressing a few more buttons as a female voice was heard.

"And one step closer to the return of the reapers" the voice spoke deeply

"I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about the reapers" Udina mumbled. That was probably the only thing we could agree on.

"Are the reapers some kind of new alien species?" Jane asked intrigued

"According to the memory core, the reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,00 years ago" Tali answered factually.

"The reapers hunted the protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe" Tali shrugged.

"Sounds a little far-fetched" Udina commented.

"If it could be a threat to the galaxy, I'm willing to believe it" I told him. Suddenly, I remember-the vision!

"The vision on Eden Prime-I understand it now. I saw the protheans being wiped out by the reapers," I told them, suppressing the images.

'Well, at least, I think I did' I thought offhand.

"The geth revere the reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the geth back" Tali explained, sounding like she thought the idea was insane.

"The council is just going to love this!" Udina groaned.

"They won't believe you anyway. Just keep them out of this" Jane told him.

She's probably right. Even I wouldn't believe me.

"We have to tell them! Even if they don't believe anything else, this proves Saren is a traitor" Anderson argued, motioning to Tali's Omni-tool.

"Anderson is right. We need to present this to the council right away" Udina said, already sitting at his desk to probably make arrangements for a hearing.

"What about her? The quarian?" Wrex asked, eyeing Tali as she crossed her arms.

"My name is Tali," she told him, sounding annoyed. The light of her eyes changed shape, probably meaning that she was glaring.

"I think she should come with us," I told Jane, taking my place next to her.

"You sure?" Jane asked me, glancing between Tali and me.

"You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you" Tali tried to convince Jane, walking closer to us.

"I'll take all the help I can get" Jane replied before shaking her hand.

"Thanks. You won't regret this" Tali said happily, moving to stand next to Jane.

"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us in the tower" Udina told us before they left the office in an eager stride.

"So…think they'll believe us about the reapers?" I asked Jane, doubting the council will lift a finger for us.

"No" she agreed before going over to talk to Wrex, probably about fighting techniques or something similar. He's a krogan, meaning he's already in Jane's good books. I turned to see Garrus standing next to me.

"Hey, I thought we could use the break to, y'know, catch up" he told me.

"Sure. So, how've you been since I last saw you?" I asked him, feeling relaxed.

"It's been okay, though I've been having a little trouble at C-Sec" he confessed.

"Why?" I asked him curiously.

"Have you seen how many regulations there are about what you can and can't do and how you can and can't do it?" he asked me.

"I'm guessing a lot" I replied. I already know how many, having had this conversation before.

"I work at C-Sec to help people. Does it really matter that much how I do it?" he said, pacing in front of me.

"Maybe they're there to keep officers in line and not to let them take the law into their own hands" I suggested.

He stood for a few moments before turning back to me.

"You've got a point. But do we really need that many? I understand necessity, but this is over-the-top" he said, standing in front of me.

"You've got a point" I replied shrugging. He shook his head.

"Let's drop this. I haven't seen you in years and the last thing I want to talk to you about is work," he told me. I shrugged.

"Okay, so what's the first thing you want to talk to me about?" I asked him.

"What's the deal with Kaidan? The way he looks at me…it's like he can't decide if he wants to shoot me or not" he told me jokingly. I nodded, thinking.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. I don't know what's gotten into him," I confessed.

"Hmm, perhaps he simply doesn't like me" he suggested.

"He's only just met you, why would he hate you?" I asked him like it was the most impossible thing in the world.

"Well…I can think of a few reasons," he said. I looked at him confused.

"Let's go everyone. Break's over" Jane called over at us before everyone left the office.

'What reasons was Garrus talking about? I have to ask him about that later' I thought, confused and curious as we left the embassy and headed towards the citadel tower elevator, passing the krogan statue.

"Surprised they still have this statue with how many petitions there are to take it down" Garrus commented, eyeing the statue up and down.

"Jealous?" Wrex asked, glancing at Garrus.

"We'll get one soon enough" he shrugged, making Wrex laugh as we entered the elevator.

"Wonder what Saren will do when he realizes we have the evidence" I thought aloud in the elevator.

Everyone gave a respective 'hmm' before the elevator stopped and the door opened, revealing the familiar fountain.

"This should be fun," Jane said intrigued as we reached Anderson at the base of the steps.

"Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the council" Anderson told her as they walked up the steps. I followed after her.

The council was listening to the audiotapes, and I was disappointed to see Saren wasn't there. I wanted to hear his excuse to get out of this.

"You wanted proof. There it is" Uldina said, pointing towards the council which drew my attention to the meeting.

"The evidence is irrefutable, ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes," the turian told him calmly.

"I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia" the asari told us, sadly.

"Who's she?" Jane asked, crossing her arms.

"Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people" she explained.

"Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren," she added mournfully.

"I'm more interested in the reapers. What do you know about them?" the salarian asked curiously.

"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core. The reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the protheans. Then they vanished" Anderson answered him.

"The geth believe the reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet of their return" Jane told them, rolling her eyes.

"We think the Conduit…" the rest of the conversation drifted off as I lost focus. Everything around me suddenly went silent and my vision started to become blurry.

"Hey, Jane…I think I'm going to…" I tried to say faint but I couldn't form another word as I felt myself fall to the ground, my head smacking against the concrete platform.

I looked around to see Jane kneel next to me and move her lips to say something. Her eyes angrily scanned over my face as she spoke to the others.

I turned to my right to see Garrus staring at me worriedly, his mandibles clicking against his face but I couldn't actually make out what he was saying to me.

"Lily? Lily, can you hear me?" he asked, finally breaking through the silence.

I tried to reply but I couldn't form a single word. It felt like my whole throat was clogged up.

I slowly closed my eyes as I lost consciousness with the uncomfortable feeling of a rifle digging into my back.

What a great day


	8. The Return to the Normandy

_Face your annihilation. You cannot escape your destiny, Shepard_

I moaned as my eyes fluttered open to see the Doc standing next to me.

"Hey, Doc…how are you?" I asked her quietly as I sat up.

"I think _I'm _the one who's supposed to ask you that question" the Doc replied, shining a light in my eyes, momentarily blinding me.

"Ok, so ask me" I said, wincing and stretching my limbs slowly. She sighed before turning of the light and writing a note on her clipboard.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me, glancing up from her notes.

"Tired, sore, and a little bit dizzy" I groaned, shaking my head.

"Yes, I thought that would be the case" Doc mumbled, flicking through the pages on her clipboard.

"So, then. What's wrong with me, Doc?" I asked curiously, rubbing the back of my neck.

She looked at me sadly before answering.

"Honestly…I have no idea" she replied sighing, crossing her arms and taking a seat opposite me.

You know you're in trouble when your doctor doesn't even know what's wrong.

"What do you mean you have no idea?" I asked, confused and concerned.

"Well, when Garrus and Jane brought you into the med-bay unconscious. I ran some tests and, according to them, you're perfectly healthy," she explained, which left me even more baffled.

"So, are you saying I fainted for no reason?" I asked her, clicking my wrists.

"No, I'm saying you didn't faint under normal circumstances. Whatever caused you to faint, it's not common," she explained to me. I nodded, beginning to understand.

"Will it happen again?" I asked her, slowly swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.

"I honestly don't know, Lily. I suggest being cautious when you're on missions with Jane and if you feel any sort of dizziness or other symptoms to come back to the ship if you can. We don't want you fainting in the middle of a fight," she advised, sitting back at her desk.

"Okay, I understand Doc. Thanks for the help" I said gratefully. I was about to get up but my hand brushed against something.

I turned to see Jane peacefully sleeping on the chair next to me, quietly snoring.

"She rarely left your side. She was worried, especially when I told her I don't know what caused you to faint" Doc told me as I smiled at my sister.

"Big softie" I joked as I stood up from the bed. I finally got my strength back so I carefully maneuvered my sister onto the bed.

"Let her have some rest" I told Doc. She nodded in agreement before turning back to her computer as she began typing up various reports.

I silently left the med-bay and saw Kaidan standing near Jane's room.

The mess hall was home to the med bay and Jane's quarters and was a dull grey with basic ceiling lights and large tables; the only thing standing out was the long corridor on the side, which contained two rows of stasis pods.

A Row of lockers was on either side of the mess hall; the one on the far side of the room was hidden behind an electrical suit where some of the ship's basic systems could be checked.

I walked over to him to let him know I was all right.

Well for the moment, anyway.

"Hey Kaidan" I smiled at him, which he returned.

"Hey, Lily. You feeling ok? Jane told me what happened on the Citadel" Kaidan told me as he hugged me.

"I fine, Kaidan. Just had a little accident," I told him as I pulled away, crossing my arms against the cold breeze of the ship. I never realized the med-bay was so warm.

"So, I need to ask you something" I started, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked me, wiping his forehead with his arm.

"Have you got something against Garrus?" I asked him. His eyes widened slightly before he looked away.

"No" he lied.

"Don't lie to me Kaidan. I've seen the way you act around him. Has he done something that upset you?" I asked him. He sighed.

"I don't hate him, it's just…never mind" he finished. I sighed.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" I asked him irritated.

"Not now, but…maybe later. I just…have to figure something out first" he explained.

I nodded, accepting his answer for now.

"Okay, Kaidan. Well, I'm going check on the rest of the crew; make sure they've settled in. I'll talk to you later" I said before turned and walked away but immediately stopped and turned around.

"Uh, Kaidan? Where is the crew?" I asked.

"In the cargo hold" he replied before returning to his computer.

"Thanks" I said, giving a chaste smile, before turning back and walked towards the elevator. I rounded the corner and walked inside.

The elevator was quick and I soon reached the cargo hold.

The cargo hold was a dark blue was very spacious: stacks of crates were shoved to the sides of the hold; the only thing that really took up space was the dreadful Mako.

I say dreadful because it is the worst thing to drive in the galaxy.

Four oversized wheels lifted the Mako and it's missile launcher/ built-in turret off the ground along with the heavily plated body which was scarred with dents and bullet wounds but the logo 'M35' was still visible in bright red.

Wrex had made himself comfortable, casually leaning against a stack of crates, arms crossed.

Ashley was keeping herself busy by maintaining and modifying the crew's weaponry while keeping a close eye on Wrex and Garrus.

It looks like Kaidan wasn't alone in mistrusting the newcomers.

Then there was Garrus who was managing the weapon system for some reason.

I could see everyone apart from Tali but she was probably in the engine room behind me.

Deciding to start from the beginning, I walked over to Wrex who was near the lockers.

"Hey, Wrex. Glad to see you joined the team" I said, giving him a welcome smile. He fixed his red eyes on me, which dimmed my confidence with the krogan.

"Your sister convinced me," he told me gruffly, pushing off the crates, making him grow in size and me shrink.

"How'd she convince you?" I asked, smiling nervously.

"She promised me the best fight of my life" he replied shrugging.

I looked at him, expectantly. Noticing the look, he continued.

"Plus, a pile of credits on the side but I consider that just a bonus" he smirked.

I nodded but was a little worried.

My sister would always use bribery as a persuasion tactic but my sister never gives them the money, saying there was no proof that there was ever a deal.

I don't think Wrex is the merciful sort when it comes to double-crossers, but she's never betrayed a krogan before so who knows?

"So, anyway. You wanted something?" Wrex asked me, bringing me out of my reverie.

"Just checking in; seeing how you were doing" I replied, awkwardly.

He nodded silently.

"The humans keep staring at me when they come near me but otherwise no problems. Might want to tell them krogans don't like being gawked at" Wrex advised me, which made me laugh for some odd reason.

"I'm sure they'll realize sooner or later," I told him, laughing lightly.

"For their sakes, it better be later" he replied, smirking at my mood.

I nodded in agreement with a smile before thinking of ways to carry on the conversation.

"So then, why did you become a mercenary?" I asked him, leaning on the crates next to him.

"Lots of reasons" he answered, taking his place again, imitating my stance.

I waited for him to continue. After a few seconds I realized he wasn't going to say anything else.

"Such as?" I continued to push the subject, motioning for him to speak.

"_Such as_ I needed to get out of our system. I needed to eat. I needed to survive" he listed, staring blankly.

"So why didn't you stay and help your people?" I asked him, watching him for any signs of discomfort or, God forbid, anger.

"I tried to help. That's why I had to leave," he answered grimly, leaving me curious.

"Look, Shepard. All this talking is giving me a headache. Why don't you do what you gotta do so we can get back into the fight?" he dismissed the rest of the conversation. Figuring that was the end of our talk for a while, I said goodbye to Wrex and walked over to Ashley.

"Hey, Ash" I said, leaning against the table covered in different types of guns and weapon upgrades.

"Hey, Lils. Can I…talk to you, for a sec" she asked, adding a weapon upgrade to her rifle and clicking it into place.

"Sure, what do you want?" I asked her, examining her handiwork. She sighed before putting her gun back on the table.

"I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but…Um, I'm concerned about the aliens, Vakarian and Wrex," she confessed.

"What're you concerned about?" I asked seriously.

"No offense, but…should they have full access to the ship?" she asked. That caught me by surprise.

"Um, okay…I personally see no problem with allowing them access. Why, should I?" I asked her.

I mean, I understand with Wrex but he seemed calm for a krogan, but Garrus?

"This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance navy. I don't think we should give them free range to poke around the vital systems. Engines, sensors…weapons" she said, glancing towards Garrus mistrustfully.

"I'm guessing you have a thing against aliens," I said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"We…Humanity, I mean…have to learn to rely on ourselves" she told me as if it was fact.

I immediately disagreed.

"Ashley, we need allies. It's like the saying 'every man for themselves', you're strong on your own but allies make you stronger" I explained.

"…I don't think we should turn away allies, I just think we shouldn't bet on them staying allies. As noble as the council members seem now, if our backs are against the wall, they'll abandon us" she explained.

"Wow, never pictured you as a pessimist, Ash. I'd probably call that a worst-case scenario, not inevitable" I tried to encourage her.

"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist," she told me. I felt a little insulted by that. Sure I'm an optimist but I'm not one for blind faith.

"Look, I understand if you don't agree with me. It's just that I feel uncomfortable with it, okay" Ashley added.

"Hey, I understand personal views are important. Why don't you talk to Jane about it and see what she says. It's her ship, anyway" I advised her.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for listening, Lily. Appreciate it," she said, smiling in thanks, before turning back to her rifle.

Thinking I've bugged her enough, I walked over to talked with Garrus near the armoured truck.

"Well then, is it my turn for your questioning?" he asked me, jokingly, as he glanced towards me before turning back to the ship's weapons panel.

"Well I can't leave out my favorite Turian in the whole ship" I told him, grinning as I leaned against the truck next to him.

"I'm the _only _Turian in the whole ship" he retorted, turning away from the panel towards me before leaning on it.

"Well then that makes you the best," I told him, crossing my arms.

"And the worst" he finished, crossing his arms, making me laugh.

"Touché" I said, laughing, making him smile in victory.

"So then, what do you want to talk about?" he asked me.

"Well, I haven't seen you in years. How's the family?" I asked him carefully.

"They're good, as far as I know. Haven't spoken to my dad in a while because…y'know" he said solemnly.

I nodded, looking at him sympathetically.

Garrus and his family aren't exactly on the best of terms. Actually, that's an understatement. Garrus always felt like the 'bad egg' of the family compared to his sister and father. From what I remember from his stories, his mother unfortunately passed away giving birth to him, which makes his relationship with his family even worse.

"How are yours?" Garrus asked cautiously after a moment of silence.

"I…don't know, actually" I told him, shrugging.

"I haven't spoken to them in ages. Mom refuses to talk to me since me and Jane left Earth. I think she's still pretty mad we didn't tell her, and I have nothing to say to my dad" I told him, ending on a sour note.

"I guess we can relate then?" he asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, in a way" I agreed. I pushed myself off the truck and turned to Garrus.

"Well I think that's enough awkward family conversation for today. I'll talk with you later, Garrus" I joked nervously.

"Yeah, sure. I'm just going to carry on with these calibrations," he said before turning back to the panel.

I turned back and walked towards the engine room. I opened the door to see Tali working alongside Engineer Adams and the other engineers at one of the panels near the element zero core.

It was like a ball of blue flame flickering around the room, which glowed bright blue against the curved grey walls and railing.

The only other colour that stood out was the orange screens of the engine room panels and stations.

I walked towards her to see how she was doing.

"Hey, Tali. Nice to see you settling in" I grinned as I walked next to her, leaning against the railing.

"Oh, hello, Lily" she said, turning away from the panel to face me with the familiar glow in his eyes.

"So, what do you thin of the Normandy?" I asked her, staring into the core.

"This ship's amazing! I've never seen a drive core like this before. I can't believe you were able to fit it into a ship this small" she told me, sounding amazed like a child at Christmas.

"Well, this ship is only a prototype. Cutting-edge technology. They wanted to see what it could do so they assigned only the best to work on this ship," I said proudly.

"I guess I should feel honored then" she said, looking at the drive core while leaning next to me on the railing.

"A month ago, I was patching a make-shift fuel line into a converted tug ship in the Flotilla. Now, I'm sitting onboard one of the most advanced vessels on citadel space" she said, turning back to me.

"I'll have to thank you for that. I'm not sure if Jane would've agreed to let me come if you hadn't convinced her," she said. I smiled at her. I grabbed her hand and shook it.

"I'm sure it will be a pleasure working with you, Tali," I told her. She nodded at me.

"Likewise, Lily" she said. Suddenly, Joker's voice filled the room.

"Uh Lily, Commander wants to see you in her quarters. She wants to fill you in on what happened at the citadel" he said.

"Thanks, Joker" I yelled, looking up at the ceiling before looking back at Tali.

"Well, I'll talk to you later, Tali. Let me know if you have any problems" I told her, patting her back before pushing off the railing.

"I will. Thanks, Lily" she said before going back to the panel while I left the engine room and back into the elevator.

'Huh, I almost forgot I fainted for a second there' I thought as the elevator stopped and the door opened, revealing the mess hall.

I walked towards Jane's room, saying 'Hi' to Kaidan as I walked past him and into her room.

It was very dark, only two lights were on in the room; one of them was Jane's computer screen, which illuminated her facial features in an orange light.

From what I could make out, a small bed was tucked in the corner of the room; hidden by a wall with a large weapons rack hanging from it.

A circular table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by six chairs, and a small sitting area and bookshelves decorated the opposite corner to Jane's desk and computer.

At the moment, she was sitting at her desk, typing something onto her computer before glancing in my direction.

"Hey, Jane. You wanted to talk?" I asked her as she stood up from her desk and walked towards me.


	9. The Asari Scientist

She stood in front of me for a few moments before pulling me into a hug.

"Nice to see you too" I smiled, hugging her back. We stood like this for a few moments before she pulled away.

"You had me worried there, sis," she said relieved.

"When Doctor Chakwas said she didn't know what was wrong…I was a little panicked…but it's good to see you back on your feet" she said, giving me a small smile.

"Thanks, sis" I replied. She motioned to the chairs so we sat down facing each other.

"So, what did I miss?" I asked her, crossing my legs and leaning back. She crossed her arms while leaning back on the chair.

"I became a spectre" she smirked at me, crossing her arms behind her head.

"Really?" I asked, surprised she was even offered a place after what's happened.

"Really. Plus, Anderson gave us the Normandy to fight Saren. He's now staying at the citadel, working with Udina" Jane rolled her eyes at the mention of the ambassador.

"Poor sod" I mumbled, feeling pity for the captain. Jane nodded, agreeing with me.

"So my sister is the first human spectre. Now you can do whatever you want," I said, unnerved at the thought of that much power being given to Jane of all people.

"I do that anyway" she shrugged.

"Yes, but now you can do it _legally_" I joked.

She chuckled happily, and I dare say this is the most relaxed Jane's been in a while.

It suddenly felt like we were teenagers just gossiping with each other.

"Wow, didn't think of it that way," she told me grinning. I smiled before laying my hands on my stretched belly.

"So then, what are we going to do first?" I asked curiously, staring up at the ceiling.

"We're going to find Dr T'soni at the prothean dig site she's working at," she told me, becoming more serious.

"Do you think she'll help us?" I asked her.

"She better. Her knowledge on the protheans could be helpful in our fight. Plus, according to her file, she's a good biotic" she answered, intriguing me.

"Wow, a biotic scientist. She's going to be a useful ally," I commented. She nodded in agreement, but a look in her eyes told me she was holding out.

"Yeah, should be easy to get her to join" she smirked.

"Come on, Jane. When are we ever that lucky" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Never, but it's more fun that way" she grinned at me.

"You're insane," I said casually, suppressing a smile.

"I just like a challenge" she shrugged.

"Commander, we're getting close to the dig site" Joker's voice said over the intercomm.

"Thanks, Joker" Jane yelled in response, looking at the ceiling before looking back at me.

"Well, then. Are you feeling ok enough to come with me?" she asked, getting off her chair.

"Yeah, should be fine" I said, getting off my chair while brushing off imaginary dust off my legs.

"Ok. Come on then" she said before we both left her room and towards the elevator.

"So, we head in, grab T'soni, and get out?" I asked as we entered the elevator and started to head down.

"Well, it's like a very close person once said to me…" she began, the elevator stopping.

"When are we ever that lucky" she imitated as the doors opened.

I laughed as she ordered Wrex and Tali into the truck.

"Hey, Garrus" I said as I walked past him and onto the truck.

"Hey, Lily" he said, staring at the panel.

"Bye, Garrus" I said as I entered the truck.

"Bye Lily" he said, confused as the latch on the truck closed.

'Don't know why I did that' I thought as Jane turned to us.

"Ok, whose driving this thing?" she asked us.

"Why don't you drive it, Shepard?" Wrex asked.

"Have you seen her drive?" I asked him, quirking an eyebrow before turning to Jane.

"Give me the controls," I mumbled as I went towards the control seat. I sat down, stretching my arms before looking at the different levers and buttons in front of me.

"Okay…how do I drive this thing?" I mumbled as I scanned over the controls.

Behind me, I heard Wrex whispering to Jane.

"We're going to die, aren't we?" he asked her.

"Yes" was her short reply

"Yep. Thought so," he mumbled.

"I heard that" I yelled over my shoulder, annoyed.

The door in front of me opened and I pressed a random button, sending us forward and out of the ship.

After a few moments, I stretched the kinks in my fingers.

"Okay, time to work the magic" I said to myself as I pressed anther button, making us hover over the ground.

"All right, now to the dig site" I said as I used the controls to send us forward and towards the dig site…hopefully.

It was a plain, rocky, dusty red landscape, similar to Mars, with Lava Rivers running along the sides and, to top it all off, the lava is all from a dormant volcano under the crust and all it needs is a catalyst to set it off.

There was also the odd section of piping leading underground along the drive route, probably used to extract moisture and resources from the planet.

A few minutes later, we came across a large, rusty metal barrier. I stopped in front of it, scanning the area to see another way around.

There wasn't.

"Okay, guys. Guess we're walking now" I said, turning to the rest of the group.

They all nodded before Wrex opened the latch and we all left truck.

"Wow, it's hot here" I waved air onto my face, being forced to leave my helmet in the Mako otherwise I'd boil.

"Okay, everyone. We don't know how long we'll be here so be prepared and try to conserve your water" Jane ordered as we all checked our water bottles were secured to us and there was no chance of a leak.

"You sure we're at the right place?" Wrex asked me as we walked towards the barrier, which had now grown in height because of the absence of the Mako's lift.

"Positive" I said as we walked through the narrow pathway in the middle of the barrier.

"How can you tell?" he asked confused. Before I could reply, bullets started flying towards us. We all dove for cover and looked over it to see geth shooting at us down the hill and on the hills in the distance.

"That's how I know" I replied as we began shooting at them.

Jane and Wrex began taking out the group down below us, Tali giving covering fire while I focused on taking out the geth in the hills.

It was a quick battle and eventually we killed all the geth in the area.

Having the chance to look around, I realized it was in the style of an outpost with multiple cover points on the ground and hills surrounding a tall steel defense tower.

I could make out the entrance to the dig site over the hill.

"Do you think there's more?" Tali asked me as Jane motioned for us to follow her as she headed up the hill, gun drawn.

"Probably" I said honestly as we walked up the hill towards the dig site.

Crates and oil tankers surrounding the staircase leading into the ruins while a large crane carrying more crates stretched above them.

"Something's not right," I mumbled, drawing my gun when electronic noises pierced the silence.

I hate it when I'm right.

A large, white block near the entrance to the dig site suddenly lifted off the ground, revealing a colossus geth, which began shooting missiles and plasma bolts at us. Geth minions and also some sort of jumping geth surrounded it. Running to cover behind oil containers, I chose to ignore the jumpy one and focus on the ground soldiers.

That is until it decided to jump on me.

"What the hell!" I shouted as I threw it off me and shot it down.

"Are you ok?" Tali shouted at me as she shot down the last of the geth and began to focus on the colossus, narrowly missing the plasma bolts.

"Yeah, thanks!" I shouted back at her as I threw a grenade towards it.

'This should help' I thought as I pressed the button, followed by a massive blast and a satisfying groan behind me.

I looked around my cover to see one of its legs had blown off and it collapsed but it was still fighting.

I threw another grenade and it landed near its head. Quickly ducking behind cover, I set it off. Immediately, another explosion followed by another groan happened.

I looked around the cover again and saw I blew its head off.

We all left our cover and walked towards it. When we reached the body, I turned to Jane.

"We seriously don't get paid enough for this," I told her, my hands gripping my hips.

"Lily, we don't get paid to do shit," she said, swinging her arms out before dropping them on her sides as she turned to the dig site entrance and walked towards it.

"True" I said, examining the carcass of the colossus before the rest of us followed Jane to the entrance.

"So, do you think the geth has found her?" Tali asked me as we entered the dig site.

"Hopefully, she was smart enough to hide, and if she was discovered, that she'd use her biotics to escape" I told her as we began to descend deeper through the dimly lit corridor and into the dig site.

She nodded before observing the ruins.

"Wonder where she is" Tali thought aloud as we enter an elevator leading further into the ruins.

As we descended, I looked to the side of the elevator to see a prison-like building with a column of large cellblocks and tunnels to the side; bright blue biotic barriers blocked the tunnels in the building and illuminated the white, crumbled building while pieces of rock from the ceiling fell around us, clattering against the elevator and metal walkway below us.

"Amazing…" I mumbled. Tali nodded next to me.

"Imagine what else the protheans could have created," she told me as the elevator stopped with a groan.

'That doesn't sound safe' I thought nervously as we left the elevator and were attacked by flying turrets.

Four shotgun bullets later, they were destroyed.

"Is this the best they can do? Come on, this is target practice" Jane shouted, which echoed through the cavern.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise" I mumbled.

Tali chuckled next to me as we walk across the metal walkway to another elevator.

"If they couldn't hear the bullets firing a minute ago, they won't hear me" Jane defended casually.

I shrugged, not really bothered. They would've noticed us eventually since we're not exactly what you'd call 'stealthy'.

"So, where do you think the scientist is?" Wrex grumbled as we went down in another elevator.

"Well maybe…"I was cut off by the groaning of the elevator before sparks flew as it stopped next to a pile of a broken walkway.

"Well, let's hope there's a second entrance" Jane thought aloud as we made our way down the broken walkway landslide as rocks bounced below us.

"Uh, hello? Could someone help me? Please?" a feminine voice shouted. We turned to see an asari levitating with her arms outstretched behind the barrier.

She wore a scientific dress with grey tights and thigh-length black boots.

"Uh…hi?" I said to her, grabbing her attention.

"Can you hear me out there? I am trapped. I need help!" she yelled at us, staring helplessly behind the barrier.

"Quick shouting! This place is crawling with geth!" Jane told her, scanning around the area.

"Hypocrite" I mumbled. She turned to me and gave me a hidden smirk before dropping it when she turned back to the asari.

"Sorry. I am a little… Look, my name is Dr. Liara T'soni. I am an archaeologist," she told Jane as her eyes seemed to light up.

"How are you holding up, Liara?" I asked her, examining the barrier.

"Fine, for the moment" she replied before turning back to Jane.

"Listen: This thing is a prothean security device. I cannot move so I need you to get me out of here. All right?" she told Jane. She seemed a little nervous and a bit panicked.

"There's some kind of repulsion field in the way" Jane stated the obvious.

"It's a prothean barrier curtain. I knew it would keep me safe from the geth" she explained.

"When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out, please" she begged Jane.

"You shouldn't be messing with technology you don't understand" Jane lectured her, crossing her arms.

"Jane, she must have had some idea otherwise she wouldn't have thought to put up the barrier in the first place" I defended Liara.

"There is a control in here that should deactivate the thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain," Liara informed us. We all nodded in acknowledgement.

"And be careful, there is a krogan working with the geth" She cautioned us. I nodded at her, smiling.

"Don't worry, Liara. We'll get you out soon" I encouraged her.

"I hope so" Liara replied half-heartedly. We turned away from Liara and towards the walkway leading to the base of the ruins.

Tents, crates, and all kinds of scientific equipment were scattered around the area with the typical yellow stand lights.

"Wonder where the geth are" Tali said just before a bullet flew in front of my face.

"Found them!" I shouted as we ran to cover behind a massive pile of crates. The battle was tiring but eventually we killed off the group of geth.

'Hmm. No krogan. He must be around here somewhere' I thought as we scanned the area.

"Ok. How are we getting in?" I asked the group, looking back at the towering structure, hands on hips.

Suddenly, a bright beam shot towards the ruins and disappeared, revealing a tunnel to the other side of the ruins. We all turned bemused to see Wrex leaning against the side of a mining laser.

"Wow. You're smarter than you look" I commented as he walked towards the hole.

"Not all krogan are battle-hungry airheads" he replied gruffly as we joined him in the tunnel and out the other side.

In front of us was a large platform with a panel in the middle. Neon blue lines glowed against the interior walls and along the edges of the platform, giving it a science-fiction-like feel to the place.

We walked onto it while Jane walked towards the panel, examining the controls.

"Ok, now how do we get to Liara?" I thought aloud before we all shook in our places as I felt the platform lift. It was an elevator collecting small piles of rocks from the fragile ceiling.

"They never cease to surprise you" I smiled shakily at the group as we were lifted higher and higher until we reached Liara, her back turned to us.

We strolled over to Liara while, hearing our footsteps, she turned her head to look at us, relief shaping her features.

"Wow. I didn't think there was any way past the barrier," Liara said as we stood next to her.

"Thank the krogan" I replied, pointing at Wrex. Liara nodded at him gratefully before turning towards the panel next to us.

"That panel there should deactivate the barrier," Liara told us, nodding at it.

Tali walked towards it and a few buttons later Liara dropped onto the platform.

She stood up shakily, trying to get her balance before she turned towards us.

"Thank you. I owe you a debt-" she stopped when the room started to shake, except this time the small rocks were a lot larger.

"That can't be good," I thought nervously, watching the rocks fall.

"What's happening?" Jane barked at no one while rocks continued to fall from the ceiling on the other side of the barrier.

"The cavern…it's collapsing!" Liara gasped.

"Something must have triggered it. An explosion probably" Liara told us, beginning to panic. All accusing eyes went onto Wrex.

"What?" Wrex shrugged.

"I think I preferred it when all krogan were airheads" I told Jane.

"Why?" Wrex asked me using a tone that dared me to insult him.

"Because when you use your brain, everything gets destroyed. Oh wait, you do that normally, don't you?" I glared, earning a counter-glare from the krogan.

"Come one, now is not the time for this!" Tali told us, already heading back to the elevator.

"Right. Everyone, back to the elevator!" Jane ordered. We all jogged onto the platform and Jane pressed the buttons on the control panel, causing the elevator to rise.

"Did your group encounter the krogan while you were searching for a entrance?" Liara asked, pulsing with biotic energy before forming a barrier above us to block the falling rocks.

'Damn. Forgot about him' I thought.

"No" I answered, laying my hand on my sidearm.

"Maybe he left?" Tali suggested before the elevator stopped at the top platform, revealing said krogan surrounded by geth.

"Or maybe he's a master at hide and seek" I joked sarcastically to her.

"Surrender. Or don't. More fun that way" he ordered us.

"Are all krogan suicidal, Wrex?" I asked him. He didn't reply, which was the only answer I needed.

"Look, either get out of our way or be killed. Your choice" Jane coldly glared at him.

"We will if you hand over the doctor, otherwise we'll take her by force" the krogan told us, taking out his shotgun.

My eyes met with Jane's as we both nodded at each other before turning back to the krogan.

"We've decided to keep her," I told him, taking out my rifle.

"More fun that way" Jane smirked, taking out her shotgun.

The krogan turned to face the geth.

"Spare the asari if you can. If not, doesn't matter" he shrugged as they began to fire at us. Tali and me hid behind cover, firing at the geth with my rifle and her pistol while Wrex and Jane used their shotguns on the krogan, not bothering to use cover and instead sprinted madly around the area.

Liara kept the barrier above us as she nervously hid behind cover with us.

It was only then that I realized that Liara was a civilian, and not a fighter.

"Liara?" I called to her as she looked up, shaking.

"I know you're scared but I was wondering if you could manipulate the barrier to let the rocks hit the geth and not us" I asked her calmly.

She hesitated before nodding, crawling closer to us.

She began to twist her arms around as the barrier took shape, making some of the debris slide of the edges and onto the bodies of the geth, crushing them.

"Thanks for the help" I smiled reassuringly at her as she gave a small smile.

We, Liara included, managed to distract the geth long enough for Wrex and Jane to finish off the krogan. After that, the battle was a breeze.

"Come on, we have to leave!" Tali shouted at us as we put away our guns and started running.

'Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger…' repeated in my mind as we ran across the walkways to the entrance, rocks falling all around us.

I would ask for Liara's barrier but I think she's too unstable at the moment to pull it off.

"Move! Move! Move!" Jane shouted, growling from behind us as we made it into the entrance tunnel.

I sprinted as hard as I could until I was outside the tunnel and onto a stable metal walkway.

'Thank the maker' I thanked gratefully as Jane and I stood next to each other, panting.

"Jane?" I said, gasping as I grabbed my knees for support.

"Yeah?" she asked, beginning to get her breath back.

"When we're done…-pant-with Saren and the geth…-pant-I demand a raise!" I finished, grinning in sudden ecstasy.

She laughed breathlessly as we finally caught our breath and turned to the rest of the group: Wrex was happily guzzling down his water while Tali generously shared hers.

"Alright, team, back to the truck. On the double, people!" Jane ordered more calmly as we made our way back to the truck, ready to be picked up by Joker.


	10. The Break

On the Normandy…

"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land on exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference" Joker joked over the radio.

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara said, confused and slightly offended.

"There's nothing like having a laugh with death" I joked, shrugging happily before leaning back comfortably in the seat.

Me, Jane, and the rest of the team were all in the debriefing room behind the galaxy map. It was the same room where we got the transmission from Eden Prime. A large plasma screen covered most of the back wall, blocked by a large metal railing circling around the seating platform and the slope up to the door.

From left to right in a circle it went: Jane, Ashley, Kaidan, me – control panel – Tali, Garrus, Liara and Wrex. Basically, humans on the left; aliens on the right.

Jane stood up and walked to the center of the room, gaining the crew's attention.

"He just pulled our arses to safety. I'm sure we can let him have a few jokes" Jane defended him, leaning on the platform; legs crossed and hands pressed against the panel.

"I see. Forgive me; I don't have a lot of experience with your kind, Shepard. However, I am grateful that you saved me from the geth." Liara thanked her with a voice of appreciation.

"What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?" Kaidan questioned her bluntly.

"Kaidan, she's just survived a geth encounter and an exploding volcano. Can you a least give her a few minutes breather before questioning her like she's a suspect?" I lectured him lightly, too relaxed to make a proper fuss over it.

"I…I guess you're right" he told me before turning back to Liara.

"Sorry…about that" he apologized. She nodded at him.

"I understand. If my species was being threatened to extinction, I wouldn't waste time in finding information," she told him, shifting in her seat.

"To answer your question, I only know that it was somehow connected to the prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past 50 years trying to find out what happened to them," Liara told us. That got my attention.

"Did you say 50 years? How old are you exactly?" I asked her, curiously, shifting back into a seated position.

"I hate to admit it but I am only 106" she told me nonchalantly.

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age" Ashley said, laying her leg over her knee Smiling, I nodded in agreement.

"A century might seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours, but to an asari, I'm seen as no more than a child. That is why my research hasn't seen the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to…disband my theories on what happened to the protheans" she explained.

"I've got my own theory on what happened to the protheans" I told Liara, thinking back on the image of the reapers.

"With all due respect, Lieutenant, I've heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The protheans left remarkably little behind. It's as almost someone didn't want the mystery solved. It is like someone came along after the protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. " Liara continued; sounding deflated by the lack of evidence.

'Maybe someone did…or something' I thought.

"But here is the incredible part: according to my findings, the protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. The cycle began long before them" Liara finished.

"So then, who were the first to go?" I asked her.

"I don't know. There is barely any evidence on the protheans, even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory but I know I am right" Liara said, determined.

"Well, I'm not sure about that theory but I know what happened to the protheans. They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines, the Reapers," I told her.

"The…the Reapers? But I have never heard of…how do you know this? What evidence do you have?" she questioned me frantically for information.

"There was a damaged prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It gave me a vision. The vision showed the protheans being wiped out by the reapers," I explained, repressing the images once again.

"Visions? Yes, that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime" Liara told us.

"But the beacon's were only programmed to interact with prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am…amazed that you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process," she explained to me before turning to face Jane.

"You have a remarkably strong-willed sister, Commander" she said, admiration and curiousity in her eyes.

"Ugh, this isn't helping us find Saren or the Conduit" Ashley interrupted, annoyed.

"Of course, I'm sorry. My scientific curiousity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I have no information to help you find the Conduit, or Saren" she said, dejectedly.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I think it's better if she stays with us" I said, crossing my arms and legs.

"Why?" Kaidan asked next to me.

"Think about it: Saren wanted her for a reason. I don't know what the reason is but I think we'd be a lot better off if we bring her along" I explained. I turned towards Jane to see her thinking before slowly nodding her head.

"I agree with Lily. Besides, you're biotics could be useful" she said.

She nodded before quickly putting a hand to her head.

"Woah…I am feeling a little lightheaded," she said, wobbling in her chair.

"Are you okay, Liara?" I asked her, concerned.

"I…I should be. Its just finding out the truth about what happened to the protheans is…overwhelming. I think I just need to lie down," she told me.

"Still, I think the Doc should have a look at you" I told her.

"I…I guess it wouldn't hurt to be examined by a medical doctor. Thank you, Lieutenant" she thanked me.

"Please, only people in the Alliance have to call me Lieutenant. Just call me Lily," I told her. She nodded, understanding

"Okay…Lily" she said before leaving the room.

"That's it for now. Dismissed" she told us. We all stood up and left the room.

Before I left, Joker's voice was heard over the intercomm.

"The mission reports have been filed, Commander. Want me to patch you through to the council?" He asked her.

She turned to look at me. I shrugged.

"Put it this way, sis: you'll eventually get the lecture from the council. Might as well do it now" I told her. She sighed before telling Joker to patch them through.

"See ya later, sis. Good luck with the council" I told her as I left the debriefing room.

I turned around the corner and down the stairs to the mess hall when I caught Garrus entering the elevator.

"Hey, Garrus" I said, joining him in the elevator.

"Hey, Lils. How's it going?" he asked me.

"Pretty good, considering" I told him as we stood in silence.

"So, then…what do you think about Liara?" I asked him.

"She seems okay, but I don't completely trust her…I think she knows something that she's not telling us" he explained to me.

"I know what you mean. She seems too…innocent, in a way," I added.

"Exactly" he agreed. We stood again in silence.

"So, then…I'm curious" he began. I turned to look at him.

"About what?" I asked him.

"Is there something between you and Kaidan?" He asked me. My eyes widened in shock.

"Umm…why do you want to know?" I asked him, blushing lightly.

"Just curious" he said but I could tell there was a hidden motive in the question.

"No, there's nothing going on between me and Kaidan" I told him.

"Oh" he said. He sounded a little…happy, which slightly confused me.

'Damn, how long is this elevator going to take?' I thought.

"So, then…what made you think we were together?" I asked him.

"It's just…the way you too acted around each other, especially Kaidan…it seemed like there was some chemistry," he explained. I nodded, but still a little confused.

Finally, the elevator doors opened, revealing the crew quarters.

"Well then, Lieutenant. I guess I'll be speaking to you later" Garrus said as he walked towards his room. I watched him for a second before shaking my head and walking to my private quarters. You've gotta love the privileges of having a Commander for a sister.

A large single bed sat in the corner of the room opposite the door with a large oak bedside table holding a lamp with a rectangular lampshade.

A large oak wardrobe was in the adjacent corner of the bed, next to the bathroom door. The corner adjacent to the door was home to my small dark wooden vanity, where a canifex pistol was hidden in a small compartment in case of emergencies. There was another one in the bedside table but I'm not sure if Jane's moved it when she was doing an inspection.

Feeling completely drained from the mission earlier, I dropped onto my bed. I sighed in bliss as I stretched the kinks in my body. I promise, the minute the mission is done, I'm going on shore leave immediately.

I laid still for a few minutes before my eyes fluttered close. I was asleep in a few minutes.

In my dreams, I was plagued by the vision on Eden Prime. The horrible feeling I felt when I first watched it returned as I thrashed in my bed. It seemed like it carried on for a century.

I gasped as I sat up; sweat covered my body as memories of the dream began to fill my mind.

'So much for my beauty sleep' I thought grudgingly as I swirled on the bed so my legs hung off the side before standing up.

Immediately, the familiar sound of the alarm clock appeared in the room.

'Damn you, Jane' I mentally glared at her before heading to my closet to hang my wrinkled clothes from yesterday and changed into casuals.

I stretched my arms as I walked out of my room and towards the elevator.

"Hey, Lily" a voice said behind me. I turned to see Ashley smiling at me.

"Hey, Ash. Good morning" I yawned at her.

"By the sound of that alarm clock, I'm guessing you're not having one" Ashley remarked.

"Jane tell you about it?" I asked her as we walked into the elevator together.

"Yea" she giggled as the elevator doors closed and began to lift.

"Yea, yea, laugh it up" I rolled my eyes.

"So, anyway. Have you spoken to Liara yet?" She asked me.

"No, I didn't talk to her yesterday because I thought she might've needed some rest" I told her.

"Well, I'd talk to her if I were you. I think she's hiding something from us," she told me.

"Yeah, me and Garrus noticed that too" I told her as the elevator stopped. The doors opened, revealing the mess hall.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm getting a snack. You coming?" she asked me.

"Maybe later. I going to have a talk with Liara" I told her.

"Alright" she said before walking towards the tables.

I left the elevator and walked towards the med-bay. The doors opened, revealing the Doc sitting at her computer.

"Ah, lieutenant. The asari is in the other room if you want to talk to her" Doc told me.

"Thanks" I smiled at her before walking past her, towards the door on the other side of the room.

The door opened, showing said asari sitting at a computer next to a few crates. It was a very small room.

"Hey, Liara" I said, walking towards her.

"Oh. Hello, Lily" she said, standing up from her seat and turning to face me.

"Just checking up on you. How were you yesterday?" I asked her.

"Doctor Chakwas assures me I am going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of asari physiology," she told me. I smiled.

"You're in good hands with Doc. She's the best one I know" I told her honestly.

"…I never got to thank you properly yesterday. If you and Shepard hadn't come, I'd…" she stopped but I got the message.

"Don't sweat it. I'm just glad we got to you before the geth did" I told her.

"So am I," she added. She stood silently before speaking.

"You and Shepard took a chance with me by bringing me onto your ship…I've seen the way your crew looks at me, they do not trust me" she told me.

"But I am not like Benezia. I promise I will help you defeat Saren ad the geth," she said but I could tell she was keeping something to herself.

"Me and the rest of the crew have only known you for a day, you can't expect them to be completely trusting. But you haven't betrayed us yet, so I'm going to take a risk and trust you. Don't make me regret it," I told her. She smiled at me.

"You won't. Thank you, Lily. If you ever need help, I'll be here" she said. I nodded at her as she turned away and sat down next to her computer. I turned and left the room.

"How'd it go?" Doc asked me as I walked past her. I stopped at the door as it automatically opened. I turned my head to look at her before giving a small smile.

"I think it went rather well," I told her before turning back and leaving the room the door closing quickly behind me.

I walked over to the table where Ashley and Kaidan were sitting talking. When they noticed me, they turned to me.

"Hey, Lils. How's she?" Ashley asked as I sat down opposite her.

"She's good. I still don't fully trust her but I think she's okay," I told her.

"Yeah, well I'm going to keep an eye on her. Just in case" Kaidan told us as Ashley past me a cup of coffee.

"Well, if it lets you sleep at night" I told him, accepting the cup with a smile as I took a small sip.

"Hey, Lily. Later, if you have the time, can we talk…privately" he said nodding his head towards Ashley who was drinking her own coffee. I nodded, curious about what he wanted to talk about.

"Lily, Commander wants you at the galaxy map. She wants a second opinion on something" Joker's voice sounded over the intercomm. A faint 'Thanks, Joker' was heard afterwards. I sighed before standing up.

"Guess I'll talk to you guys later, then" I waved goodbye, abandoning my coffee and went up the stairs and towards Jane who was staring blankly at the galaxy map.

"Hey, Jane" I said as I walked next to her.

"Hey, Lily" she replied, her eyes focused on the map.

"So, Joker said you wanted an opinion on something" I commented. It was then that her eyes left the map and focused on me.

"What do you think of the asari?" she asked me. I thought for a moment before replying.

"She seems okay. I wouldn't trust her yet but she seems safe" I told her. She nodded before turning back to the map, leaning on her arms against the railing.

"Why?" I asked her.

"We're setting off towards Noveria. It's a small research facility but Anderson suspects that it's the perfect place for the geth to attack" Shepard explained.

"Also, according to a few of my contacts on Noveria, an group of asari commandos came with a Matriarch a few days ago. It might not be the one we're looking for but it could be worth checking out," she said, looking towards me before noticing the look.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Since when do you have contacts?" I asked; eyebrow raised.

"Hey, I may be amazing but I'm just one woman, I need help some times" she defended, shrugging before looking up at Joker.

"Hey, Joker told me he wanted to see you after we were done" she informed me.

"Well then, are we done?" I asked her.

"Yep. I'm done with you for now" she waved me off. I walked away from the map and around the ship control stations in the middle of the room.

"Oh, one more thing, sis" she said behind me. I turned my head to see her holding a cup of tea, or is it coffee?

"Hope you don't mind me having your coffee" she said, taking a sip. I stared at her shocked.

"When the hell did you get that?" I asked her, shocked and confused at the same time.

"Magic" she grinned before turning back to the map.

"Bitch" I mumbled.

'When the hell did she get that?' I thought, still confused as I walked up to Joker.

"Hey, Joker" I said, sitting in the chair next to him.

"Hey, Lils. How's life?" he asked, eyes scanning over the ship controls in front of him.

"Odd, confusing, and completely random" I answered.

"I figured" he replied.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked him.

"Nothing, really. I haven't talked to you in ages so I thought we could catch up" he said, glancing towards me before returning to the panel.

"Sorry about that. Life's been pretty crazy at the moment" I apologized.

"Yeah, I saw you when you came back from the dig site. You looked like you would drop to the ground and sleep at any minute" he told me, pressing various buttons on the controls.

"So you're saying I looked like shit, basically" I said, looking at him seriously.

"I wouldn't put it that way, but…yea" he replied.

"Right. Thanks for that" I said, sarcastically.

"Happy to help" he said, grinning at me.

I giggled at him.

"You always manage to make me laugh. Even if I'm in a shitty mood," I told him, smiling.

"Are you in a shitty mood now?" he asked.

"Maybe" I replied sadly.

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Jane nicked my coffee," I moaned.

"Awww, is the Commander being a big meanie?" he asked in a baby voice, making me punch his shoulder.

"It's not funny," I mumbled, holding back a smile.

"Ouch. Did you have to punch so hard?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yes" I replied bluntly.

"Wow, and I said the Commander was mean" he said, turning back to the panel.

I rolled my eyes before deciding to do some work at the control station I was sitting at.

"So then, what do you think of Jane's crew?" I asked him, scanning over and at some points optimizing the systems.

"Well, I already know Kaidan…no comment" he said, making me smile.

"Wrex…well, I don't know what he's like but I know what krogan are like. Just keep him in the battle and he should be fine" he continued. I nodded, letting him know I was listening.

"Garrus seems okay. He worked at C-Sec so he probably wants to help people, meaning humans in this case" he said.

"Tali seems to know _a lot_ about ships so she could be handy to have around. I haven't met many quarians so I can't really give an opinion" he carried on.

"And Liara I've only seen for a few seconds since letting her on the ship so no comment" he finished. I motioned for him to continue but he ignored me.

"Well?" I asked him.

"Well what?" he asked me.

"What about Ashley?" I asked. He turned back to the panel, not looking me in the eye.

"She seems…okay" he replied but he was obviously had a better opinion than that.

"That's it?" I asked him, unconvinced.

"Well…we've talked for a bit in the cockpit. She seems…really nice," he added eventually. I looked at him before giving a small smile.

"You like her, don't you?" I asked him knowingly.

"Yes, she's very nice" he replied.

"You _like _her, don't you?" adding emphasis on like. He sighed before glancing at me.

"Look, I'll admit it, she's cute, but I know her type. She's adventurous, craves danger. I'm a crippled pilot where my idea of danger is walking to the loo to take a piss" he replied. I looked at him sympathetically.

Joker was born with hollow bones; it's called Vrolik's Syndrome I think, where one wrong step and they completely scatter.

"Ah, don't lose faith, Joker. You'll find the right girl for you. It may not be Ashley but someday a girl will come along who will love a guy like you" I supported him. He sighed heavily, eyes closed, before looking at me with a smile.

"Thanks, Lily. You always know what to say to make me feel better" he replied. I smiled before standing up and hugging him at his side.

"Anything for you, bro" I told him before pulling away. He looked shocked before grinning.

"Thanks, sis" he said, making me smile.

"Anyway, I'm going to go get another coffee. Talk to you later" I said as I turned away and walked out of the cockpit.

I went back down to the mess hall and towards the coffee maker near Kaidan.

"Hey, Lily" he said as I walked next to him.

"Hey, Kaidan" I replied as I grabbed a cup from the cupboard under the coffee maker.

"We need to talk," he said as I put the cup under the spout in the coffee maker.

"About what?" I asked as the coffee began pouring into the cup.

"I've just spoken to one of the rear admirals at the citadel. They've received a report from Earth," he told me as the coffee finished pouring into the cup.

"Oh? What about?" I asked as I grabbed some nearby milk off the counter and poured some into the cup.

"There's a hostage situation at one of the international banks in London," he answered.

'Hmm. That's the city I grew up in…' I thought as I finished with the milk and put it away.

"Who took the people hostage?" I asked curiously as I stirred the coffee before taking a small sip.

"Your father" he replied slowly.

A few seconds later, coffee was spilt all over the floor as a broken cup rolled across the coffee puddle, reflecting my pale face.


	11. The Family

I stared in shock at Kaidan for any sign that it was some sort of sick joke.

There wasn't any.

"What?" I whispered quietly as Kaidan have a look of sympathy.

"The reports says that Mark Shepard was taking hostages at a local bank in London. He's threatening to kill them all" he explained though it sounded like there was more.

"There's something you're not telling me…" I pushed him. H sighed, putting a hand to his head before dropping it and began speaking.

"One of the hostages…she's your mother" he confessed. I felt a lump grow in my throat to the point that I couldn't speak.

"Lily?" he asked concerned, putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see his eyes full of pity.

"He's got my mom…that _bastard's _got my mom," I said venomously as I shook his hand from my shoulder. I turned and glared at him angrily.

"Don't you dare pity me. I don't need it. We are going to Earth and solve this problem. If the problem ends with a bullet in the man's head, so be it" I said, charging away from Kaidan and towards the stairs.

"Hey, Lily" Garrus said, walking out of the elevator.

"Not now" I grounded out of my teeth. I saw him flinch as I went up the stairs and towards Jane.

Jane turned to me as I came nearer, and upon seeing my look, she smirked.

"Sorry, sis. I finished the coffee," she said, holding up the empty cup.

"Hey, sis. Have you talked to Kaidan recently?" I asked, saying it with sarcastic cheerfulness.

"No, why?" she asked me, confused. Just then, Kaidan appeared with Garrus from the staircase.

I turned to him, wearing a fake smile.

"Go on, Kaidan. Tell her," I told him. She turned to him, confused.

"Umm…" he said, rubbing his neck.

"Tell me what, Kaidan?" Jane pushed him. He sighed before replying.

"There's a hostage situation back on Earth…your dad's the man taking them…including your mother" he finished. A minute of silence past through the ship before Jane spoke.

"Kaidan…two things…one: Why wasn't the report given to me when you received it?" she asked as she slowly walked towards him.

"And two: why did you tell my sister about this instead of me?" she asked him, crossing her arms in front of him.

"Well, I-" she cut him off.

"Don't give me an excuse. You know you shouldn't have told her. Everyone who knows Lily knows she's emotional about this sort of thing, especially when it involves family. I love my sister but we should have dealt with this discreetly" she lectured him like a mother telling off a small child.

"She has the right to know" Kaidan argued.

"I didn't say we wouldn't tell her, I would've waited till after the mission before telling her" Jane retaliated. I felt the anger against my father wade away as it was replaced by the pure want for them to stop arguing.

My rage blinded me from seeing the repercussions of snitching on him to my sister. I felt so immature.

During the argument, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Garrus looking at me.

"Do you want to leave?" he asked. He didn't show pity or sympathy, he showed understanding.

I gave him a small smile and nodded. He moved his hand so it was on my back and gently pushed me towards the stairs. The others were too busy arguing to notice.

We entered the elevator and Garrus pressed to button to take us to the crew quarters. No one said anything as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

"Well, ladies first" he said, outstretching his arm towards my door. I nodded in thanks as we walked towards my bedroom. Quickly opening the door, Garrus and me went inside as I shut the door.

I sighed, leaning my head against the door before turning to face Garrus.

"Feel better now you're away from the arguing?" he asked me.

"I guess…" I replied as I walked and sat next to him on the bed.

"Still doesn't change things," I said, looking at the floor.

"At least now you can think about it without all the noise" he replied.

"But that's the thing…I don't want to think about it" I confessed sadly.

"He's taken my mom...and maker knows how many more people…I just feel like it's my fault. I could have done something when I had the chance instead of leaving her…" I whimpered. He placed a hand on my knee.

"Lily, there's no way you would've seen this coming, and you know that" he argued.

"Yeah, but-" he cut me off.

"No buts. You couldn't have done anything. If I remember, you were scared of him. The only thing that gave you courage to see him was Jane," he told me.

"When did I tell you I was scared of him?" I asked, confused.

"It was one of the things we talked about when you were still living on Earth" he replied. I smiled at that.

"You remember what we'd talked about?" I asked him, surprised and a little touched.

"Yeah, well…you were a special friend to me then" he replied casually.

"Then?" I asked him.

"And now" he told me; his hand still on my knee as we stared at each other, thinking.

A knock on the door broke my chain of thought as I turned around when the door opened, revealing Ashley.

"Commander wanted me to give you a heads up. We're going to deal with the hostage mission back on Earth before heading out to Noveria" she said before glancing between Garrus and me.

"Am I…interrupting something?" she asked me, quirking an eyebrow towards me.

"No, Ash. Just talking" I replied as I blushed lightly, understanding what she thought she was interrupting. She nodded but she looked a little unconvinced. She closed the door behind her, leaving the room in silence.

"Well" he said, standing off the bed as I turned to him.

"I should probably get back to the cargo hold. I need to finish off some calibrations on the main guns," he said, standing in front of me.

"Oh, sure. No problem" I replied but my mind was elsewhere.

He nodded as I watched him leave the room. I sighed before lying on my bed.

'Did she really think…' I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

Dream

"Lily! Jane!" a rough man's voice shouted up from downstairs in the barely-standing house.

"Yes?" a meek voice shouted back as she clutched to her sister's leg, frightened.

"Downstairs, now!" he shouted before a door slammed shut.

"Don't worry, Lily. I'm here" the girl replied, taking Lily's hand since the other was firmly gripping her leg.

They both silently walked downstairs before opening the door, revealing a man sitting in front a T.V and a woman sitting on an armchair, silently knitting her needles.

"Quit making that noise, woman! I can't hear the T.V" he ordered her. Without a second thought, she quickly stopped, putting the needles on the floor. As she reached down, the sleeve of her shirt pulled back, showing a dark purple handprint.

Lily gulped as her sister pushed her behind her leg. They entered the room, gaining the man's attention.

"What's this?" he asked calmly, holding up a leaflet labeled 'Alliance recruitment leaflet: All you need to know'

"A leaflet" Jane replied with a bored tone. He glared at her, before standing up and walking towards us. We were teeny compared to the 6 and a half-foot tall man in front of us.

"Thinking of joining the Alliance?" he asked, crossing his arms while glaring at Jane.

"Maybe" she replied, not in the least bit scared by him.

"Well, guess what' he said, crouching so they were eye-level.

"Even those pencil pushers at the recruitment office wouldn't be desperate enough to hire a couple of no-good, worthless couple of street rats like you" he insulted.

Lily looked towards her mom desperately but she just sat there, watching him before looking at her. She gave her a helpless look before turning away from her.

She whimpered quietly but he still heard me.

"Awww did I upset you?" he asked with fake concern before putting a grubby hand under her chin and lifting her head as Lily cried.

His face shriveled in disgust before he slapped her.

"Stop being a whiny cry baby. Your sister doesn't cry but she is a bigger pain in the ass than you" he went back to his chair as Jane went over to Lily, placing a warm hand on her bruised cheek.

'You okay?" she asked quietly as Lily nodded. Jane turned and glared at him.

"Jane, stop standing there like an idiot and do something useful. Grab me a beer from the fridge," he ordered. Jane glared at him before walking past him to the kitchen, but not before he slapped her ass.

"And stop glaring at me" he ordered as she went into the kitchen. She came back, a hand on her side as she gave him his beer. He snatched it, before waving her away so he could see the T.V.

She grabbed Lily's hand as they left the living room and up the stairs to their bedroom. It was nothing special: two beds, one large closet, a picture of the two at the park and a few posters near the plain small window. Jane shut the door behind her and removed her hand from her side, letting two objects fall onto the bed. They were beer bottles. She past one to me as she unscrewed hers and took a gulp. Lily eyed her, uncertain.

"It will make you feel better" she replied.

"But won't dad find out?" Lily asked her.

"No" she replied shorty as she unscrewed Lily's for her. Shrugging, she took a gulp from hers. The sting from the slap was slowly dying down as she continued to drink.

"Do you want to go to the park later?" Lily asked her.

"Can't. I'm grounded remember?" she asked her. Lily smiled, remembering.

Jane got grounded because she punched a dude from her school for flirting with her. Not the sweet, nice flirting but the dirty kind of flirting, Jane wouldn't tell her what he said. 'When you're older' Jane always says.

"Okay. I guess I'll go by myself," She said, standing up before brushing herself down.

"See ya later" Jane replied as Lily opened the window and climbed down the pipe next to it. Technically, they're not supposed to leave the house but what they don't know won't kill them.

She reached the bottom and quickly left the house and headed towards the park.

She sighed happily as she walked past the roses in the park and sat on a nearby bench. Lily sat there, watching the birds fly around the trees before she heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw two men, a man and a small boy, walking down the path.

"I'll be back soon, James. You just stay here with your friends for now. You haven't seen them in ages so I'm sure it will be fun to see them again" the man explained to the boy.

"But I want to go with you, dad" the boy whined.

'Well that makes one of us' Lily thought as the man walked away, leaving the boy. She heard him sigh before he turned and saw her.

Without thinking, she waved at him and smiled. He returned it before slowly walking towards her, like he wasn't sure if he should or not.

"Hi" She said when he was near enough.

"Umm…hi" he replied, nervous.

"My name's Lily" she told him.

"James" he replied, seeming less nervous.

"Do you want to hang out?" she asked him. He smiled and nodded. Lily got off the bench and went towards James.

"Okay…you're it!" she giggled before running away. James stood shocked before laughing and chasing after her.

End of dream

I woke up, quickly putting a hand to my cheek before sighing. It was all a dream. I smiled as I remembered meeting James that day at the park. I think he joined the Alliance but I'm not sure, I haven't seen him since I was on Earth.

'I hope he's okay' I thought as I got out of bed and stretched before heading to my closet for some fresh clothes.

"Approaching Earth, Commander. ETA 30 minutes" Joker informed us over the radio.

'Today's the day' I thought as I got changed and left the room.

'No matter what happens, they will be at least one casualty at the end of this'

I walked towards the elevator before I noticed a familiar man down the corridor.

"Hey, Pressly" I smiled at the ship's navigator as he turned around to face me.

"Good morning, Lieutenant. Haven't spoken to you in a while" he replied, smiling as we shook hands.

Pressly was one of the first crewmembers I became friends with when I first worked on the Normandy. Jane and me both agree he is a very loyal crewmember who would gladly help us anyway he can.

"We've been busy, what with Saren and the geth," I told him.

"I've noticed. I've also heard about the news of your father…you have my deepest sympathy, Lieutenant" he told me. I smiled in thanks before nodding.

"Well, we'll have to catch up soon. Maybe after this is over, we could have a drink at the citadel. I know we'll need it" I joked. He chuckled before nodding.

"Definitely. First round's on me" he promised. I smiled and began to walk away.

"I'll hold you to that, Pressly" I told him as I enter the elevator. His laugh was the last thing I heard as the door closed and rose to the mess hall.

After a few moments, the elevator stopped and opened, revealing Shepard talking with Liara.

"Hey guys," I said as I walked up to them.

"Hello, Lily" Liara said smiling before turning back to Jane.

"I'll talk to you later, Commander" she smiled at her as she walked back to the med-bay.

"Bye, Liara" Jane smiled before turning to me.

"What was that about?" I asked curiously.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we've got family to take care of" she replied. There was a double meaning in her words.

"Agreed" I said seriously as we walked together up the stairs and towards the cockpit.

"Are we almost there?" Jane asked, as we got closer to Joker.

"15 more minutes, Commander" Joker replied as I sat down at the terminal next to him.

"We might be there awhile so tell my crew that they can have a look around London before we return to the ship" Jane ordered Joker. He nodded and broadcast the message into the intercomm.

"How will we let them know we're leaving?" I asked Jane. She pulled out a map with blue dots all over the screen.

"This is a virtual atlas. It lets me know where certain people are at a time. Namely, the crew that go with us on missions are on this map" she explained.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked her, confused. I don't know anyone who sells that sort of stuff.

"I didn't get it, it was a gift. Liara was building something like this in her spare time to let her know where her team of scientists were to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to" she answered.

I didn't know how to reply so I just shrugged and turned to face the terminal.

A few minutes later, we all remained quiet as entered the mass relay into the Sol system. We watched as Earth came closer and closer until we could make out London.

"Just a few more minutes" Joker said as we flew towards the docks.

Towering white skyscrapers shone like crystals around the large shimmering blue lakes, surrounded by dark green forest areas. Sky cars flew below us gracefully twirling around each other. It was magnificent, beautiful like the citadel even.

After joker asked permission to land, we landed at the docks as the familiar ship-holders locked onto the ship.

I stood up from the terminal and turned to face Jane.

"So, who's coming with us?" I asked her. She thought before replying.

"I think it's best if we complete this mission ourselves" she replied.

I nodded, understanding, before we left the ship.

"Wow…" I whispered as we looked at London. 10 years really did a number on this place. It's even more beautiful on the ground, with multiple shops of vibrant colours against the white buildings and pavement and various people smiling, laughing and dancing with each other in the streets like it was a festival.

But we knew it was just a mask, hiding the true London, the London we grew up in.

"Ready, sis?" Jane asked.

"Ready and loaded" I replied, patting my pistol at the side. She smiled before we left the docks and towards the bank. It didn't take us long to find the right bank since there was only one bank with police and reporters outside it. When they saw us coming, they immediately went towards us.

"Shepard! Shepard! How does it feel to know that your father is holding the bank hostage!" a reporter shouted at us.

'Some people don't know when to keep their mouths shut, obviously' I thought darkly as I carried on walking towards the bank with Jane at my side.

'After the mission on Torfan, do you think this type of aggression runs in the family?" another reporter asked.

I severely wanted to punch them all but surprisingly, Jane held me back. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it, reassuringly.

I smiled at her in thanks before we reached the police line around the bank.

"Ma'am, it's not safe to enter the bank at this time" a policeman stopped us.

"I'm Commander Shepard, this is Lieutenant Shepard. I believe we have full rights to enter the bank, sir" Jane said calmly.

"I'm sorry, Commander, but I can't let you in" he replied. She sighed before speaking.

"I'm also a Spectre. Let me in right now" she tried again, starting to lose patience.

"I don't know of any human-" he began but Jane cut him off, putting a gun at his abdomen so the reporters couldn't see.

"Let. Me. In" she tried again, eerily calm. He shivered before nodding quickly, allowing us through the line. Normally, I'd call her impatient but I couldn't force myself to condone her action when I'd probably have done the same.

She quickly stepped through and up the steps.

When we reached the top, we could see the outline of bodies along the edge of the walls inside. Whether they were alive or dead remains to be seen.

"Huh…I feel like I'm 8 years old again," I commented outside of the large, dark glass doors. She nodded, probably feeling the same, before squeezing my hand again.

"Except this time, we're not the victims. We're not going to do what mom did, we're actually going to fight this time" she replied. Those words gave me courage enough to open the door, allowing me and my sister to enter the bank.

Silence and darkness filled the bank as the door closed behind us.

Muffled noises were heard from a room at the back. Jane kept watch as I went to investigate the noise. I opened a door at the back to see my mum tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth.

"Mom?" I said surprised before shaking it off and removing her gag. She seemed to be panicking about something.

"Mom, are you ok?" I asked concerned as I removed the gag.

"Behind-" she began but stopped as I felt a blow to the back of the head. I fell from the attack before my arms were roughly grabbed from behind as I felt circular metal wrap around my wrists.

Handcuffs.

I was then grabbed by the cuffs and pulled up. I made no sound as I was pushed forward to see my sister in the same position as me, except she was unconscious. I twisted my body to see the man I remember so well.

"Father" I spat, glaring at the arrogant man before me. He grown older, more wrinkles lined his face and the ever so cold brown eyes glared at me in return.

"I figured this would grab your attention," he said before kicking me in the chest.

I coughed at the pain from the kick surrounded my stomach.

"Took me forever to find out you'd joined the Alliance. Think of it as punishment for leaving. You girls were fetching me a wealthy sum from the business you did on the streets. How were we supposed to get money with you two gone? Did you not think about your poor, starving family!" He shouted the last bit, dealing me another blow to my chest.

"Well you seem to be doing just fine" I managed to say. The kicks were making it hard to breathe let along give a smart-ass comment.

"Just. We would've lived a wealthy life if you hadn't screwed us over!" he shouted again, kicking me in the chest. This time I gave a short cry in pain.

He took out a gun and pointed it at my sister.

"Perhaps I should deal with her first. The bitch probably had the idea in the first place about leaving to join the Alliance," he said.

Without thinking, I argued.

"No, actually. It was mine. I couldn't deal with your shit anymore, and then I found the leaflet. I decided enough was enough" I lied. He then switched the gun from her to me, surprisingly making me relax.

"Oh, so the quiet one had a voice after all. Too bad it was a waste," he said. Suddenly, he fell forwards next to me. I turned to look to see mum standing in front of me, holding a hard cover ledger.

"Thankfully, a shard of glass allowed me to cut out of my bonds" she mumbled, dropping the ledger.

"Mum?" I asked, confused. She quickly grabbed the keys from him since he was quickly recovering from the blow and undid the cuffs on Jane and me.

"Mum?" I tried again, standing up from the floor. She stopped and turned to me.

"Why did you come back? Why couldn't you just leave it?" she asked me angrily.

"Mum, I-" I was cut off as I was pulled backwards, my head hitting a desk near me.

"You bitch!" dad's voice screamed as I watched his blurry form hitting my mom. I reached out an arm towards her, not being able to focus on anything at all.

The one time I don't wear a bloody helmet.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out around the room as I watched my dad's blurry body fall to the ground.

I turned in the direction of the sound to see another person run up to me. Up close, I could make out Kaidan's worried face.

"Lily?" he asked me, gently shaking me. I looked at him since that was all I could do. I watched his eyes glance to my head as he began moving my hair. When his hands puled back, I could see red.

'Great…' I thought dizzily as I felt his arms wrap around my body and pick me up bridal style.

I glanced around to see another larger form pick up Jane. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell by the body form that it was a krogan.

"We'll get you to the hospital. Just hang on," he whispered soothingly to me. I felt safe and relaxed by those words as I slowly shifted so my head rested in the crook of his neck. He smelt of some sort of cologne. It helped me relax as I fell asleep wrapped in his arms with the scent of cologne.

I felt his arms tighten around me but I took no notice. He was probably getting a better grip.

At some point, I remember his arms leaving me as I was placed on a bed before I felt a hand enclose around mine as the cologne stayed with me.

"Please be okay" Kaidan's muffled voice was heard as I drifted into a deep slumber.

I never would've realized that the only reason his grip tightened was because he was angry.


	12. The Aftermath of a Confrontation

I mumbled, opening my eyes to see myself in a glass room with Kaidan sitting next to me.

"Kaidan?" I breathed as I sat up. Immediately, pain rushed to my head and I pressed my hand against my forehead, wincing in pain.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you," he said, gently pushing me back down. The pain started to ease up so I laid my hand on my stomach.

"Where are we?" I whispered.

"We're still on Earth. You're at the Royal London Hospital" he answered me.

"What…happened?" I asked him, confused.

"You were fighting with your dad before your mom knocked him down. She managed to free you but you were pushed and you head hit a desk, causing the head wound," he said, pointing to my bloody bandages.

"What happened to the others?" I asked, concerned.

"Jane's fine. Your dad managed to get the jump on her before she could react" he told me.

"Really?" I asked, surprised that he managed it. Jane must be losing her touch.

"As for the rest of your family. Your dad's dead, bullet to the head, and your mother's ok for now. She's still in shock but, if you're feeling up to it, you can go see her" he told me.

"Who shot him? Was it you?" I asked, curiously.

"No, I barely had the chance to pull out my gun when she shot him" he confessed.

"So who shot him?" I asked again.

"It was Liara" he replied. I looked up at him, shocked.

"Seriously?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. When I asked her about it, she said she had her reasons for shooting him. I don't know what they are and I don't want to know, but if I were you, I'd ask her about it. She seems to have taken a liking to you and Jane. She might be more willing to talk to you than me" he said before standing up from his chair.

"Well, I've got to head back to the ship. When you're ready, head to the reception at the end of the hall and ask for your mom's room. She said she wanted to talk to you when you woke up" he told me before leaving the room.

I turned to face the ceiling, taking a deep breath, before slowly lifting myself off the bed.

The pain was still there but I could suck it up and stand up from the bed. I groaned as I felt pain flow around my body as I began to walk to the door. I managed to open it but because I was still a little unstable, I managed to trip. Luckily, someone caught me before I injured myself further.

"Y'know, something tells me you're not always this accident prone" Garrus joked as we wrapped his arms around my waist to keep me steady. I laughed breathily as I pulled away from him.

"You guessed right," I told him as I smiled at him. Suddenly, his joking demeanor turned to one of concern.

"How's your head?" he asked, brushing the wound lightly.

"Not great" I answered truthfully.

"I figured. You were lucky to leave the bank with just that, which you wouldn't have if you had worn a helmet," he lectured. I would have retaliated but I completely agreed with him.

"Why didn't you bring people with you?" he asked, confused.

"He was our father. We had to take care of it ourselves," I told him.

"Is that your words or Jane's?" he pushed. I narrowed my eyes slightly at his accusing tone.

"We both agreed on it. He was our father; we had to deal with him on our own" I replied as I walked past him.

"Lily…" he began. I stopped, letting him know I was listening.

"I just don't want you ending up dead because no one was there to protect you," he confessed. I listened as his footsteps came closer.

"Jane was there," I argued poorly.

"She was there unconscious and hand cuffed while your father beat you" he retaliated, standing behind me.

"When we realized you two went alone, we all left looking for you in groups: me, Tali and Ashley and Kaidan, Wrex and Liara" he said as I stood there listening. Slowly, I felt him brush his fingers over my bandages.

"He still managed to leave his mark" he finished.

I stood there before I slowly turned to face him. I looked up to see him staring at me blankly.

"I…" I began but couldn't finish. I was completely speechless.

"Lily?" a voice said behind me. I turned to see Jane standing at the end of the corridor.

"Mom wants to speak to you," she told me. I nodded before turning back to Garrus.

"I guess I'll speak to you later" I told him. He nodded before leaving without another word. I sighed loudly before turning back to Jane.

"Come on, I'll show you to her room" he said, leading me past reception and down another corridor where I could make out mom's body lying on the bed through the window.

"I wait for you here. We've already said what we wanted to say," he told me before leaning against the wall next to the door. I nodded at her before opening the door into the room.

"Lily?" she asked quietly as I shut the door and turned to look at her.

"Hi mom" I said as I sat next to her on the bed.

"Been a while" I commented, smiling a little before dropping it when I saw her face.

"Why did you come back?" she whispered, shaking her head.

'Straight to the point, I see' I thought as I replied.

"When we heard it was our father that was taking hostages, we had to take action. We didn't want him to hurt anyone while we stood back and watched. We didn't want to be…well, you" I finished, looking at her sadly. She looked away, seeming ashamed before turning back to me.

"Why did you leave?" she asked, sounding betrayed.

"We needed to leave, mom. We couldn't live like that anymore. We needed a fresh start from the life on the streets" I told her, trying to convince her we left with good reason.

"I always tried to give you the life you deserved. I always tried to be the perfect mom, but your father…he beat all the hope I had for us outta me. When you left…I felt so alone. You were always the bright star between you two. You always gave me hope, strength…then you left. I felt like the hope left me again, leaving me with him" she confessed. It hurt me to hear her say it like that.

"Mom, I'm so sorry we left you. If there was anyway way we would help, we would've done it" I tried to take away some of the guilt I felt.

"When you two left…your father was the only thing keeping me alive, and he bloody knew it" she told me, staring at the wall behind me shaking her head before looking back up at me.

"Now I have nothing" she realized.

"Mom, I'm sor-" I began but she cut me off.

"Sorry doesn't give me shit! Now that he's dead, so am I unless you come back home. Come home, please baby. Don't leave me alone again," she cried at me. I felt my heart break as I stared at her, her teary eyes looking up at me. I wanted so much to say yes but I knew I couldn't. I had no choice.

"I'm sorry, mom. But I'm an Alliance soldier. Always will be," I said as I stood up from the bed.

"I'll ask Jane to spare some money for you but I can't stay" I told her. She looked down sadly before giving me a painful smile.

"In a way…you remind me of me when I was your age. No matter what, I always looked out for my sister like she did me. 'To hell and back' we used to say" she told me before the smile soon turned into a frown.

"Be careful out there. Watch out for your sister, too. I…I love you, Lily. Come visit me soon" she said as I walked to the door before turning to her and giving her a small smile.

"Will do" I replied as I opened the door and left the room. When I closed the door, I leaned my forehead against it and sighed.

"Well that was extremely awkward," I mumbled as I turned to look at Jane.

"You're telling me," she agreed as I pushed myself off the door and turned to face her.

"So, what now?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"Well, I guess we head back to the ship. We've got to deal with the reported sightings on Noveria," she said as we both walked down the corridor.

"You mean the asari? Well, it will definitely be interesting place to visit" I told her as we walked past reception and towards the main doors.

"Who'll be coming with us?" I asked her.

"Well, we're dealing with asari commandos, elite soldiers with powerful biotics and weaponry so I'm bringing Wrex and Liara with us" she replied as we left through the doors and down the steps.

"Good squad. So, do you think we'll find something interesting?" I asked her as we reached the bottom of the steps and headed towards the subway.

"Definitely" she replied as we entered the subway. We were both silent after that as we left the subway at the docks and entered the Normandy.

"Well then, I'll talk to you later, Lily" Jane said as she walked up to the galaxy map.

"See ya, Jane," I replied causally as I went to the stairs. Quickly walking down them, I saw Kaidan sitting alone at a table in the mess hall.

"Hey" I said, sitting opposite him.

"Hey, Lily" he replied, smiling at me.

"What's with the cheesy smile?" I joked as he pulled something out of his pocket and put it on the table.

It was a small, blue velvet box.

"Wow. Proposing marriage, Alenko?" I joked as I eyed the box amusingly.

He chuckled.

"Sadly, no. If I was, it would be more romantic than proposing in the mess hall of a warship" he told me as I picked up the box before gently opening it.

"Oh, Kaidan…" I mumbled, surprised as I pulled out a necklace with a golden locket.

"There's more," he said as he gently took the locket and opened it, showing me the picture inside it.

I laughed at it, remembering when it happened. He took a picture when we were both on shore leave on my birthday. I managed to get completely hammered and began flirting with a random batarian with cheesy pick up lines. I don't remember what happened after that but Kaidan says I don't want to.

"You should've seen the look on his face" Kaidan laughed.

"I imagine he was horrified" I joked as I closed the locket and grinned at him.

"Well, he definitely wasn't expecting a blind drunk Lieutenant to come flirt with him, that's for sure" he said.

"No kidding," I agreed, chuckling.

"And half the things you said, Lily…god, I don't think I'd ever laughed that much in one night. I took a picture of it so I wouldn't forget it. I never pictured you as a 'straight-up' person" he said. I blushed, knowing what he meant by 'straight up'. Now, I'm thankful I don't remember it.

"Thank you, Kaidan. So, I have to ask: why did you get me a gift? Not that I'm complaining about it. It just seems completely out of the blue" I asked him.

"You mean you don't know?" he asked incredulously.

I shook my head 'no' which I think left him even more stunned.

"Really?" he asked me.

"Really" I replied, getting confused. Have I forgot something really important or what?

"Lily, It's your birthday," he told me.

It took a few seconds before it registered.

"Damn, how the hell did I forget that?" I asked myself stunned. Kaidan just shrugged.

"You were probably too focused on your father to remember your birthday" he suggested.

"Then why didn't anyone remind me?" I asked him.

"Well we probably thought you knew but that's what we get for assuming" he chuckled.

I gave him a playful glare before looking down at the necklace.

"Hey, Kaidan. Help me put this on," I said, standing up before he did.

"Sure" he said as he took the necklace and stood behind me. He held the necklace in front of me before pulling back, his fingers brushing my neck as he fastened the lock. When he was done, I turned to face him.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked, smiling as he stared at the pendant hovering over my chest…at least I think he was looking at the pendant.

"Beautiful" he mumbled. Feeling a little awkward, I put a finger under his chin and lifted his head.

"Hey, my face is up here" I joked, nervously. He seemed confused before he realized and chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm going to check up on Liara. See ya later, Kaidan" I waved as I entered the med-bay.

I heard him sit back down, muttering 'see ya' before the door closed.

"Happy birthday, Lieutenant" Doc smiled at me. I mentally rolled my eyes.

'Of course people remind me now don't they?' I thought as I thanked her before entering Liara's room to see her typing a message.

"Who's that for?" I asked. She tensed, quickly closing down the message, leaving me confused and suspicious.

"Nobody, just sending a message to a friend" she quickly replied, standing up from the desk and turning to me.

She didn't sound like she was lying but it definitely sounded like there was more to say.

"Whose the friend?" I asked her.

"Just a fellow colleague" she replied. Again, it didn't sound like a lie but like she was dancing around the truth.

Deciding to dismiss it, I asked her about the bank.

"So, according to Kaidan, you had a reason for shooting my dad at the bank. What was it?" I asked her bluntly.

She seemed to hesitate slightly before answering.

"Well…when I was first brought to the ship, Jane came to talk to me. I think she wanted to know if I was to be trusted or not. We began talking and…we…'connected', in a way. We share many ideas with each other and she was generally a very interesting person to talk to, unlike myself" she began. Wow, that's actually an honor. Usually, Jane just ignores people in her crew, only asking them what needs to be asked and that's it. No connecting at all

"I told her I owe her a debt, and I'd help her in any matters needed apart from missions like Noveria. Jane told me the plan, it will be interesting to work with krogan for a change," she continued.

"She asked me to protect you, help you in any way you need" she finished, leaving me stunned. She actually did that…wow.

"I…didn't think she worried that much" I confessed, feeling a happy warmth float in my body.

"She always worries about you. She told me it has always been that way, even when you were children" Liara told me.

"I always keep my word, Lieutenant. No doubt about that" she stated.

"Well, in any case, thank you Liara. I appreciate you looking out for me, now I ask you to do the same for Jane" I asked her.

"Don't worry. I will watch over her," she promised but it sounded like she was hiding something. I just shrugged it off; it was probably me just being paranoid.

"Oh, before I forget. Happy birthday, Lily" she told me.

"How did you know it was my birthday?" I asked her.

"Jane" she replied quickly. I nodded, as we stood silent for a few seconds.

"Well, it was good talking to you, Liara" I said as I turned away and opened the door.

"I will be here when you need me, Lily," she said as the door closed behind me.

Saying a quick 'good bye' to the Doc, I left the med-bay, only to see Ashley waiting by the elevator.

When she noticed me, she smiled and walked over to me.

"Happy, birthday, Lily" she said, giving me a quick hug.

"You couldn't have said that earlier, could you?" I mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked, pulling away to give me a questioning glance.

"Nothing" I replied quickly.

"So, anyway…" she said before pulling out a small red box form her pocket.

"Oh, Ash. You didn't need to do this…" I said as I took the box.

"Well, I did" she replied smugly as I twisted the box in my hand before opening it.

"Uhh…" I said as I stared at the gift.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked as I continued to stare at the gift.

"Well, it's…what is it?" I finally asked. She rolled her eyes, sighing.

"It's an armour upgrade. I figured you'd need it since you're always in an infirmary every week" she said as I playfully shoved her.

"So, what does the upgrade do?" I asked, curiously.

"It's called a 'Medical Exoskeleton' upgrade. One of the best money can buy. Trust me, you'll love this thing" she said, picking it up from the box.

"Well, I'll take your word for it" I told her. She put it back in the box before taking the box back.

"Tell you what, I'll be nice and install it for you myself" she said but I could tell she had a reason and I know what.

"You think I'll break it, don't you?" I asked her, crossing my arms.

"Well, I saw you installing a weapon upgrade once. It was the most agonizing thing I had to watch," she confessed.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?" I asked her. I can't be that bad can I?

"Lily, imagine that the gun is a baby and the upgrade was a bottle. You'd be done for extremely violent child abuse before you could say 'done' " she told me.

"Ever the drama queen" I sighed as I shooed her away.

"Ok, ok, you can install the upgrade yourself" I said.

"I wasn't asking" Ashley said, walking towards the elevator.

"Then why'd you come up here and show me it?" I asked her, confused.

"I didn't want your ego to go up when you suddenly become a master in combat" she replied as she entered the elevator.

"I wouldn't grow…that much" I mumbled the end before heading towards the stairs. Quickly walking up, I entered the room as I headed towards the cockpit, getting a 'happy birthday' from Pressly and a bottle of Ryncol as a present.

"Hey, Joker" I said as I got close to the crippled pilot.

"Hey, birthday girl" he replied.

"How come everyone remembered apart from me?" I asked, incredulous as I sat at the terminal next to him, placing the bottle on the stand at the terminal.

"Maybe you've just got crap memory," he suggested. I thought before nodding, agreeing that that was probably true.

"So, how far from Noveria?" I asked casually.

"We should be there in a few hours" he replied, glancing at me before returning his eyes to the dashboard. I nodded absently.

"Oh, by the way, check under the terminal" Joker told me. I glanced at him, confused before checking under it. Sitting there was another box.

"What's this?" I asked as I grabbed it and pulled it out.

"Well, I couldn't say happy birthday to my 'sister' without getting her a present, could I?" he said, smiling as we kept typing on the dashboard. I smiled at the side of his head before opening it.

I couldn't stop laughing as I picked up the ship model of the Normandy.

"Where did you find this?" I asked him.

"A small shop in London. Apparently, it's not supposed to be the Normandy but another ship but I thought it looked pretty similar. So I added a few things like paint work, writing…oh, and look in the cockpit window," she told me. Curiously, I peered into the cockpit, only to grin at what I saw.

It was a miniature Joker sitting on the pilot seat in the model.

"Every ship needs a pilot" Joker commented as I turned to look at him.

I stood up from the terminal and hugged him at his side.

"Aww, thank you, Joker" I said, hugging him tightly.

"Lily…can't…breathe!" he managed to make out. I quickly let go of him.

"I don't think choking the ship's pilot is one of your greatest ideas, Lily. Might want to rethink that one," he said, taking deep breaths as I rolled my eyes at his dramatic exaggeration.

"Anyway, thanks for the ship, Joker" I said, picking up the bottle and the ship before giving Joker a peck on the cheek.

"You're lucky. I was going to keep it for me but I figured 'why have the model when I have control of the real thing?' "He told me as I began to leave the cockpit.

"It must have been a difficult decision," I said with fake sympathy as I turned to look at him.

"It was" he replied in a sad voice. I rolled my eyes smiling before leaving the cockpit.

"Later, Joker" I said.

"Later, Lily" he said, smiling as he continued to work.

I received a few happy birthdays from a few people on the crew before I entered the elevator as it lowered to the crew quarters. I quickly entered my room: putting the bottle of Ryncol on my desk and the model Normandy on my nightstand.

As I was putting things around the room, I noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the drawer. I walked over and opened the drawer to put away the paper before realizing it was a card with a present hiding in the drawer.

Curiously, I picked up the card and opened it.

Hey Lily,

Jane told us it was your birthday today so I got you a small gift back on Earth while you were at the hospital.

Hope you like it,

Tali

'Damn, I feel special today' I thought, smiling at the card before putting it on my desk and taking out the gift. Slowly, I lifted the lid to see what there was.

Suddenly, a metallic ball shot out of the box and began hovering in front of me.

"Organic life form. Lieutenant Lily Eloise Shepard. Age 29. How can I be of service?" it asked as it circled me before hovering in front of me.

I stared in shock at it.

"Um…what _are _you, exactly?" I asked it, backing away slowly; hands held up in front of me.

"I am an VI. I offer technical support to the selected user and information regarding various topics" it answered.

'Well, Tali definitely knows how to give a great gift' I thought as I continued to question it.

"So, then…what do I call you?" I asked it.

"The person that created me named me Shiva" she answered.

"Okay…Shiva. Thank you but I do not need assistance at the moment" I told her.

"Very well" she said. I nodded, still a little shocked at Tali's gift before I turned and walked towards the door. I heard a noise behind me and turned to see Shiva following me.

"Uh, Shiva? You don't have to follow me," I told her.

"I am your personal VI and have been programmed to follow the user in case of needed assistance" she replied. I didn't know what to say so I shrugged and left my room with Shiva.

'This will be interesting' I thought as I entered the elevator and headed towards the cargo hold.

'Well, the way gifts go, it can't get any weirder' I thought as the elevator stopped as we left it and walked into the engine room.

The people who noticed me coming couldn't stop staring at Shiva and frankly I couldn't blame them.

"Hey, Tali" I said as I got closer. She turned away from the panel and towards me, quickly noticing Shiva.

"I see you found your present," she said happily as she stared at Shiva.

"Yeah. Thanks for the present, Tali. You know you didn't have to" I said as Shiva floated next to me.

"Ms. Zorah was very insistent about it when she installed her software into my programming. She said it was a token of thanks for convincing Jane to let her stay onboard the Normandy" Shiva told me as she began circling Tali and me before stopping next to my head.

"It was no problem, Tali. You didn't have to get me a gift" I still persisted.

"Look, do you like it?" she asked me.

"Yeah, but-" I began but she quickly cut me off.

"Then stop saying I didn't have to. I know that but I wanted to" she said. Defeated, I smiled in thanks as Shiva began to talk.

"I will proof a valuable asset to you on your missions. That I can promise" Shiva said.

"Glad to hear, Shiva" I said, looking at the floating ball before looking back at Tali.

"Thanks again for the VI, Tali" I said, giving the quarian a 'thank you' hug.

"Anytime, Lily" she said before she turned back to the panel.

"Talk to you later, Tali" I said as Shiva and me left the engine room, saying a short hello to Engineer Adams.

"What's that?" Garrus said as I walked up to him, Shiva following behind me.

"Shiva. She's a VI gift from Tali," I told him. He whistled while scanning over Shiva.

"Tali knows how to impress," he said.

"She's an intelligent being when it comes to technology. She couldn't have chosen a better VI," she said.

"And she's cocky as well. Interesting gift" Garrus said before looking back at me.

"Anyway, happy birthday, Lily" he said, before pulling out a long narrow box.

"You too?" I asked as I took the box gratefully.

"Definitely. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't get you a gift?" he said.

I shook my head smiling as I opened the box. It was an assault rifle and a very expensive-looking one too.

"Impressive" I said as I took out the rifle.

"It's the HMWA master line of assault rifles," he said as I admire the piece of weaponry.

'Man, it even sounds expensive' I thought as I gently and carefully put the rifle back in the box.

"How much was it?" I asked, curiously.

"It's a gift. You don't ask how much it was" he replied. I placed the box on a nearby table before wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a thankful hug.

"Thank you, Garrus" I whispered as he wrapped his arms around my waist. We stood there for a few more seconds before I pulled away.

"Well, I can't wait to test it out" I grinned at him as I picked up the gun before turning back to him.

"Thanks again" I said.

"Anything for a friend" he said, smiling. I smiled at him before giving him a peck on the cheek.

"See ya later, Garrus," I said, smiling, before walking towards the elevator, leaving him stunned.

"Wrex" I nodded at Wrex as I entered the elevator.

"Shepard" he nodded at me as the doors shut, leaving me alone with Shiva.

"Lily, Commander wants to talk to you in her quarters" Joker's voice sounded in the elevator.

"Thanks, Joker" I said as the elevator stopped and the door opened. I left the elevator and made my way to Jane's room. I opened the door to see her looking at a picture frame.

"Hey, Jane" I said as the door shut behind me.

"Hey, Lily" she said, grabbing a box from her desk and the picture frame still in her hand, she walked towards me.

"Happy birthday" she said, holding out the things.

"Two?" I said as I took them gratefully.

"One of them is from mom," she said. I looked up at her surprised before looking at the picture in the frame.

It showed me, Jane and mom sitting on a bench in the park. Judging by our smiles, dad was at work the whole day that day.

I smiled at it. I guessed we had some good times as a child. The problem is trying to remember them.

"The other gift is from me and Liara. She didn't know what to get you so we both bought the gift" she said as I opened the box.

Inside was a hairclip holding a blue and red gem in the center of it. It reminded me of yin and yang with different colours.

"Thank you, Jane" I smiled at her. She took it out of my hand and clipped my bangs out of the way.

"It's to keep your hair out of your eyes," she said.

"Thanks" I said gratefully.

"Damn, I can't believe you're 29 today. I'm getting old," she said, crossing her arms. I laughed at her and eventually she joined in too.

I love my birthday.


	13. The Noveria Landing

After having the talk with Jane, I made my way to the cockpit and talked with Joker. It must have been talking a while since he was getting really annoyed at Shiva circling his head.

"Does this thing have to be here?" he complained, swatting Shiva.

"I follow Lieutenant Shepard in case of needed assistance" Shiva told him.

"So why are you circling my head and not Lily's?" he argued.

"My personality imprints allow me to gain amusement when annoying others" she replied returning to her place next to me.

"Well that's a helpful feature isn't it" he mumbled to himself, probably wanting to throw something at the metal ball.

"Be nice, Joker" I joked, earning a glare from the pilot.

"So, when are we reaching Noveria?" I asked Shiva. Before he could reply, Shiva immediately answered.

"According to the current speed of the ship, we will reach Noveria in 5 minutes, Lieutenant" she told me.

"What the ball said," Joker said, glaring at Shiva before focusing on the panel.

"I can tell you two will be great friends" I commented.

"No kidding" joker muttered.

"I detect sarcasm from Mr. Moreau" Shiva stated.

"No, really?" Joker rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't be mean to the VI, Joker," I lectured him smiling.

He did a hand imitation of me talking before focusing back on the panel, muttering as he did. He pressed a few buttons on the panel before speaking.

"We'll be landing on Noveria in 5 minutes, Commander" joker said to the panel.

"Thanks, Joker" Shepard replied.

He nodded before he grabbed his newspaper from the table next to him and swatted Shiva away from him.

"Joker!" I said, shocked as she shook in the air before floating to me.

"Serves her right for getting enjoyment out of making me annoyed" Joker defended.

I nodded, pretending to understand before pointing to the newspaper.

"Hey, can I have a look at that?" I asked him casually.

"Sure" he said, passing me the newspaper.

"Thanks" I smiled before rolling it up and hitting him around the head with it.

"Hey! You don't hit the pilot!" he said, rubbing his head with his hand.

"Teach you for hitting my birthday present" I said. Shiva started to make a noise with sounded incredibly like a laugh.

"Who's hitting your birthday present?" Jane said as she walked into the cockpit.

"Joker" I said as I stood out of the terminal.

"Well I should probably get ready. See ya later, guys" I waved behind me as I left the cockpit and towards the stairs.

When I reached the bottom, I was greeted by Kaidan.

"Hey" he said

"Hey" I smiled at him.

"Um, can I ask you something…I'm kinda curious about it" he asked me.

What?" I asked.

"Is there something between you and Garrus?" he asked me, stunning me.

'Haven't I heard this question before?' I thought as I replied.

"No, there's nothing between me and Garrus" I replied confused.

"Oh" he said. He sounded…happy.

'Wait…didn't Garrus asked me about me and Kaidan?' I thought.

"It's just the way you two acted around each other, especially Garrus…I just thought, you know," he said.

'Okay, feeling a little awkward.

"Um…Ok, well I'll see you later, Kaidan" I said, quickly brushing past him and into the elevator.

'Ok, let's think: Garrus thought I was with Kaidan because of how I acted around him; Kaidan thought I was with Garrus because of how I acted around him…am I unconsciously flirting with them or are they just imagining it?' I thought confused as the door opened revealing the cargo hold.

I made a beeline to my locker and quickly suited up and grabbed my gear. I looked to the side to see Liara and Wrex also getting ready. I waited for them to finish before entering the elevator together and taking us to the mess hall. When the door opened, we quickly climbed the stairs into the map room.

"We're on the station. Ready everyone?" Jane asked, meeting us at the airlock.

"Ready" we replied in unison. She nodded before leading us out through the airlock and onto Noveria.

The second the wind hit my face I shivered.

Snow and ice covered the outer edge of the docking bay while a small blizzard blew past us.

A large structure of concrete was not at all impressive compared to the icy walls and ceiling that surrounded it.

'It's beautiful' I admired before crossing my arms against the cold.

'Damn, it's freezing. Luckily, I remember to put my helmet on' I thought as we made our way down the walkway, past the Normandy, only to be welcomed by a small group of guards.

As we got closer, the guard in the middle put her hand up.

"That's close enough," she said, making us stop.

'And this must be the welcoming committee' I thought as Jane ordered her to move aside. The woman ignored her and continued.

"This is an unexpected arrival. I'll need your credentials," she told us.

"This is Commander Shepard. She's a Council Spectre," I told the woman.

"A load of horsecrap, Ma'am" the guard next to her said.

"We'll need to confirm that" she said.

"Also, I advise that firearms are prohibited on Noveria" she said before turning to the other woman.

"Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons" she ordered. Immediately when the woman went towards us, we took out our weapons, the guards doing the same.

"Don't try it" Wrex threatened.

"You'll regret it," I added, narrowing my eyes at them.

"Nobody takes my weapon" Jane stated, glaring at them.

"We're authorized to use lethal force" she woman in charge said before a feminine voice spoke in the intercomm.

"Captain Matsuo stand down," the voice ordered.

She looked away from us before looking back and signaling us to put away our weapons.

Cautiously, I did but I still had my hand on the pistol at my hip.

"We confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain," the voice told her.

"You may proceed, Spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational," she told Jane.

'With our luck, I doubt it' I thought as we began to walk past them before the turian guard stopped us.

"What is that thing?" he said, pointing at Shiva.

"I am Shiva. A personal VI to Lieutenant Shepard" she answered floating near him.

"All VIs brought to the station must be checked for illegal data" he said before trying to grab Shiva. She evaded his hand and floated behind me.

"Hand it over," he said, outstretching his hand. Suddenly, I felt protective over Shiva.

"I don't take orders from you, and it's not an 'it', _bub_, it's Shiva" I glared at him.

Sensing a confrontation, the Captain put a hand on his arm.

"They're with a Spectre. All we can do is assume it doesn't hold any data that could cause problems on Noveria," she told him. He nodded, dropping his arm.

"So we let them do what they want?" the other woman said, glaring at me, which I returned.

"No, so long as they don't cause any problems they can finish their business here and leave" the Captain told her. Her glare didn't lessen as she turned away.

Feeling immature, I quickly stuck my tongue out at her before turning away and following the group inside.

A large fountain sat in the middle, with a large red rug decorating the floor and strips of rug-like orange decorations hung down the walls.

I followed the others up the stairs and towards the reception desk.

Suddenly, alarms started to go off, making me jump in surprise.

"Weapon detectors. Don't mind the alarms," a woman in a long pink dress said as she walked towards us.

'This must be the woman on the intercomm' I thought as she stood in front of us behind the desk.

"I am Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleus. We apologize for the incident at the docking bay.

"We appreciate the help," I told her, nodding.

"You're welcome. You understand that our security chief was only doing her job," she told us.

"One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?" she asked us.

"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently" Jane asked her bluntly.

"Unusual? An asari Matriarch passed through here a few days ago. Lady Benezia" she answered.

"Benezia? She's here?" Liara asked surprised and slightly worried.

'Wait, does she know Benezia? I think we were right in assuming she was hiding something' I thought as I looked suspiciously at her.

"Passed through? Where is she now?" Jane questioned.

"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex days ago. To the best of my knowledge, she's still there" she replied.

"Could you tell us how to get there?" I asked her politely.

"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleus for clearance to leave this point" she said.

"Can we go now?" Jane asked. I could tell the conversation was getting on her nerves. Once she has the information needed, any other conversation is a waste of time. The woman didn't seem at all fazed by Jane's impatience.

"Of course. If you need any help, you can ask me at the administrator's office" she told us before leaving.

"She's here. I can't believe it" Liara said as Jane turned to look at her.

"I imagine you want to talk to me, Shepard. About my mother" she said.

'WHAT? Liara's her daughter? When did we learn this?' I questioned in my mind as I stared in complete surprise.

"No, I don't. I trust you, Liara. You may not be military, but you're part of my crew" Jane smiled at Liara encouraging.

'Did I hit my head? Well, actually I did but not the point. Jane's encouraging and smiling at a squad mate. Plus, she's the daughter of Benezia, an ally of Saren, and she TRUSTS her. I can't believe what the world's coming to' I thought as Jane looked at me worriedly.

"Are you ok, sis? Do you feel dizzy?" she asked me.

'No, not dizzy just mentally exhausted at this new discovery' I answered in my head.

"No, just…I'll tell you back on the ship" I told her, wanting a chance for my head to calm down before I even begin to let her explain this new personality swap.

She nodded, not totally convinced but letting it slide.

"Okay, team. Let's head to the administrator's office and get access to Peak 15 and Benezia" she said, placing a comforting hand on Liara's shoulder before dropping it and leading us out and into the elevator. Eventually, it stopped, revealing a rather spacious concrete building with a shop at the side. The only impressive thing was the building-size glass window that was the wall at the other side of the area, except it was covered in snow and ice.

Multiple fountains were dotted around the facility, along with armed guards and corporate businessmen and woman who eyed us cautiously.

Jane led us towards the stairs and down towards what was probably the administrator's office.

As we were heading to the office, Wrex nudged me. I turned to him with a curious look.

"Did you notice something…strange between Liara and Shepard?" Wrex whispered to me.

"What do you mean? The fact that she was actually _nice _for a change?" I asked him, my eyes glancing between Jane and Liara.

"Yeah" he nodded.

"Yeah, I noticed" I replied as we entered the office, which was completely made of concrete and the only colour in the entire room was the pink lady's dress, who was sitting comfortably at her desk.

"How may I help you?" she asked us, though she probably knew what we wanted.

"I'd like to speak to Anoleus" Jane told her.

"One moment, please" she said before pressing a button near a microphone.

"Mr. Anoleus?" she asked through the microphone.

"Yes, what? What" a fast male voice said through the speaker. By the sound of it, I could tell it was a salarian.

"Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir" Gianni told him.

"Right, fine. Come in" he said in a bored tone.

"Thanks" I quickly said to her as we rounded the corner to the doors of his office.

As the circular doors opened, Jane and the rest of us quickly entered his office.

"You'll excuse me if I don't stand up" the salarian told us as we all stood in front of him.

"I have no time to entertain refugees from that urban blight called Earth," he said, earning a glare from both Jane and me.

It may not be the classiest place in the universe, but it's still our home.

"I'd watch what you say if I were you" Jane threatened. The salarian ignore her threat as if it was just a minor nuisance.

"This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the executive board," he informed us.

"Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of galactic law" he finished. "We're here conducting an investigation of galactic security, Mr. Anoleus. Right now, we don't give a rat's ass about who does what in their business" I told him bluntly, wanting to get access to Peak 15 so we can leave this office as soon as possible.

"I will not allow you to harass my clients," he told us.

'What did I just fucking say? We're here for Benezia not your fucking clients' I swore in my mind. He was starting to grate my nerves and I've only seen him for a few minutes.

At some point during my mental cursing, Anoleus told Jane that Peak 15 has been cut off completely and there's no access to the station at this current time.

"I have no more questions," Jane told him. Yes, we can finally leave.

"Good. I received a dozen urgent messages while you dithered about" he complained. The minute the doors shut behind us, I turned to Jane.

"This might not help, but I really want to hit something right now"

We walked around the corner, passing the pink lady and heading straight for the door until the woman spoke up.

"Mr. Anoleus isn't the only person with access to Peak 15" the woman said, not looking up from her desk.

'She wants something doesn't she?' I sighed mentally as we turned to face her as she looked up from her desk towards Jane.

They began talking about a deal probably so I took a moment to think. I put a hand to my head, feeling a little dizzy before it dissipated away.

'I doubt it means anything' I convinced myself before turning to the rest of the group, realizing that the deal was finished.

"You feeling alright, Lily?" she asked me.

"Yeah, my mind just wandered off for a bit" I lied. I don't want her to worry about my quick dizziness.

She nodded, still looking unconvinced, before leading us out of the office and towards the other side of the building.

"Where are we going, sis?" I asked her.

"We're going to the lounge. We need to talk to someone" she replied as we entered the elevator as it lifted us to what was hopefully the lounge.

"So who are we looking for?" I continued to question before the doors opened, revealing a rather expensive looking lounge. Another fountain and large, ice-covered window decorated the room, along with a sitting area and a small bar near the fountain. There were stairs leading up to the higher levels but it just looked like it was leading up to the hotel area for the business workers.

"Him" she said, pointing to a turian sitting alone on a couch at the side of the room.

We quickly made our way over there as the turian finally noticed us.

"Good afternoon. Sir down, have a drink. What can I do for you?" he asked us, getting straight to business.

Shiva floated in front of us and began to scan him.

"Lorik Qui'in. Turian. Age 34. Manager of synthetic insights corporation" she analyzed before floating back to me.

"Interesting toy you have there" he chuckled.

"I was told you have access to Peak 15," Jane told him bluntly.

"You need a pass. How fortuitous" he smiled.

"Mr. Anoleus closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption," he explained.

"The administrator is an interesting man. He has become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents" he continued.

"By 'rents' you mean bribers for Anoleus" I said. It was more of a fact than a question.

"Quite" he agreed.

"I acquired evidence of Anoleus's actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it" he continued to explain.

'Just get to the point' I thought boredly.

"I suspect your goal lies outside this port. Mr. Anoleus would be disinclined to let you wander," he told us.

"If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits" he finished.

"Sounds like a fair trade" I said, not seeing another option. Jane nodded in agreement.

"Alright. We'll do it" Jane confirmed.

"Excellent. Here is a pass into our offices. It will activate the elevator downstairs," he continued.

"The evidence is on my computer. You-" Shiva cut him off.

"I will be able to find the evidence without any delays, Lorik," she stated bluntly.

"We'll see," he said, challenging Shiva.

Jane began to lead us to the elevator leading us back to the main room when Lorik's voice stopped us.

"Oh, and do try to keep bloodstains off the carpet, would you?" he said behind us.

When we entered the elevator, I turned to face the group.

"Is it just me or does he sound like a complete ass?" I asked them. They all responded with a 'hmm'

When the elevator stopped, we made a brisk walk to the for mentioned elevator and used the pass on the scanner. It turned green as the elevator doors opened, allowing us in.

Wasting no time, we quickly entered as the doors closed again and lifted us up into the offices.

During the ride, I noticed Liara glancing at Jane now and then with a look that I couldn't describe.

The thought quickly left my mind when the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing a long corridor with a woman and turian talking behind the doors at the end.

"This should be fun" Wrex commented as we walked down the corridor, the doors opening automatically.

The sound of the doors alerted the guards as they immediately aimed their weapons at us the same time we did to them.

"Freeze! Hanshan security. This office is sealed" the woman glared at us.

"What will you do if I don't?" Jane retaliated.

"You're the Spectre, right? Lorik Qui'in is under investigation," the woman told us more calmly.

"I don't have time for this. Get the hell outta here or I'll start shooting" Jane threatened.

"I like that plan" Wrex agreed.

'Smooth, Jane. Real smooth' I thought as I quickly hid behind the closest cover when the guards began shooting.

Jane and Wrex wasted no time in charging the security guards in the room while Liara stayed with me and offered them support with her biotics as I shot at the guards on the floor above us.

The last guard fell over the banister on the top floor as we climbed up the stairs where the offices were.

At this point, I didn't bother scanning over the environment because I knew what was there: concrete, window and fountain, done.

"Shiva?" I asked the VI

"Understood, Lily" Shiva said and started to make a noise before floating to the furthest office on the top floor where the guards were standing.

We followed her as she entered the room and began scanning the computer.

"Received necessary data" Shiva said as the computer ejected a memory chip.

"Good work" I praised the floating ball as Jane took the chip and secured it to her person.

"Right. Let's go before more guards come" Jane said as we left the office. We quickly made our way down the pathway towards the stairs when we were blocked by a group of guards and Sergeant Sterling.

'Too late' I thought as she began to speak.

"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepard" she glared at Jane.

"Do you plan on making me leave?" Jane asked her.

"Leave? You think I'm going to let you walk out? Uh uh" she said.

"Anoleus would throw you off world for what you did here. I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on my world?" she asked us, glaring.

"Do you know what we did to cops on my world?" Jane argued.

I shook my head at her. That rarely happened on Earth but there was the odd few who were unlucky enough to patrol the back streets at night.

"Your men are dirty, Sergeant. You're here off-duty, breaking the law for bribe money" I told her pitifully.

"If you want a fight, I'll give you one" Jane stated, pulling out her shotgun.

'Always the aggressive one' I thought as I pulled out my rifle and took cover from the oncoming attack from the bullets.

"You talk the talk. Let's see if you can walk after I break your legs," she shouted at Jane as she and the rest of her group continued shooting at us.

One thing you never do…threaten Jane. The whole group was down in a minute.

I whistled as the last body dropped from the carnage of Jane's shotgun.

"You really gave it to them, sis. Nearly broke the record time," I told her, patting her back.

"Record time?" Liara asked, raising an eyebrow at us.

"I'll tell you later" Jane told her as we left the office and into the elevator.

"Think we should tell security about the dead guards in the office?" I asked Jane.

"And how do we explain to them how we killed them?" Jane asked.

"It was just a suggestion," I mumbled as the elevator stopped. We quickly left the elevator, only to run into Pink Lady.

"There's been reports of noise from the Synthetic Insights office. Would you happen to know anything about that?" she asked us but she knew we did; that we were the cause.

"Speak plain. What's your interest?" Jane asked bluntly. Seems I wasn't the only one who noticed her little game.

"Not here, Spectre" she told her.

"Meet me at the hotel for a drink _before_ you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting," she told us before leaving.

'Hm. I was right when I said she wanted something' I thought as we left the hall and entered the other elevator, leading us up to the lounge.

When the elevator stopped, Jane led us straight to Lorik, completely ignoring Pink Lady who was staring at us in shock.

'I feel like I'm supposed to feel a little guilty for not going to speak to her first' I thought offhand as Jane exchanged the chip for the pass.

"I have some calls to make, starting with Mr. Anoleus," he said getting his phone.

Without wasting time, Jane turned towards the elevator, us following behind her, but we quickly stopped when Pink Lady walked in front of us.

"Why did you do that? I could have used that data to arrest Anoleus!" she said, fuming.

Jane just ignored her, pushing past her and into the elevator. We followed her into the elevator; Pink Lady's angry glare was the last thing we saw before the door closed.

I shivered from the cold stare she gave off as the elevator rode down. Sometime during the ride down, I realized something.

"Well done, Jane. You've reached a record" I congratulated her. She turned to me confused.

"Which record?" she asked me.

"You've managed to piss off over 500 people in 5 years" I grinned. We laughed as the others stared at us weirdly the rest of the ride.


	14. The Encounter

After the elevator stopped, we headed straight to the garage area where a guard was standing watch next to the door.

"Access to the garage is restricted," the guard told us as we walked towards her.

"I have authorization. Excuse me" Jane said before pushing the guard out of the way of the door.

'Well that could've gone better' I thought as we followed Jane into the garage with the guard glaring at us after checking the pass.

'501 pissed off people and counting' I added as we scanned the garage.

A lovely tank sat next to us while the familiar Mako sat further down, in front of the exit.

Stacks of corporate crates were packed around us, ready for shipment under the light of station lights decorating the ceiling.

It was what a normal service garage would look like.

I noticed a small scrunched up ball near a few crates. On closer inspection, I pulled out my rifle, as it began to uncurl, revealing it as a bouncing geth fighter. Suddenly, the crates were smashed open, showing more geth.

"This day just gets better and better" Wrex grinned as he pulled out his shotgun.

"You said it, Wrex" Jane agreed, copying him as she began charging the group.

'I swear she _wants _to get herself killed' I shook my head as Liara began using her biotics against them while I gave her covering fire. Suddenly, I was pushed to the ground from behind. I turned to see the bouncing geth jump away.

"You want some of this?" I yelled at it as I threw a sticky grenade at it. It landed on top of its head, which made me smile.

"Boom" I muttered as I watched it explode from the wall and land next to Jane. She glanced at me with a smile.

"He jumped on you, didn't he?" she yelled as she kicked a geth trooper down and shot it in the head.

"Do you even need to ask, sis?" I yelled back happily as I shot at a geth, which was trying to sneak behind Wrex.

Eventually, they all went down. Afterwards the last one hit the ground, Captain Matsuo from before came in with a small group of guards.

"What the- what are these things? Fan out and secure the area! No one gets in or out!" she ordered the group as they separated to opposite sides of the room.

'You couldn't have been here, I don't know, maybe 5 minutes ago?' I glared at the woman as she walked towards us.

"What were these things? Did you bring them here?" she questioned us.

"Oh, yes. We brought them here for target practice" I fake smiled at her before I dropped it, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the snarky one here, sis" Jane lectured me, hiding a grin from Matsuo, before turning back to the woman with a deadpan look.

"If you didn't bring them here, then who did?" she continued to question us.

"Maybe you should ask the owner of these crates," Wrex said, pointing at the broken crate rubble, which used to contain geth destroyers, y'know the ones that continuously charge at you until you die. I love those.

"We believe Matriarch Benezia brought them with her" Liara added, sounding guilty for some reason.

"That's impossible. We scanned all of her crates; there were no signs of life on the scanner" Matsuo told her.

"The geth aren't a life form, Captain. They must have been deactivated," Liara argued.

"Were there any more crates?" Jane asked her.

"Benezia brought a few of the crates to Peak 15. The rest were left here" Matsuo told us.

"Then we better get going," I said. The others nodded as we turned and walked towards the transport truck.

"Be careful. There's a blizzard affecting the road to the facility" Matsuo cautioned behind us as we all entered the truck.

"Alright, can someone else drive? I'm not a very careful driver" I smiled sheepishly.

"I will if you need me, Lily" Liara offered. I nodded in thanks as she took the wheel and began to drive us out of the garage and into the blizzard.

We sat in silence before I asked Jane the question that's been bothering me since we landed on Noveria.

"Jane, I'm curious…when did Liara tell you about her mother?" I asked her.

"During one of our talks" Jane replied. That was a shock.

"So you actually _talk _to your crew. For a while, I thought they were just here to point and shoot" I joked. She rolled her eyes at that.

"Ha, Ha. Laugh it up, sis" Jane said as I felt the car turn sharply.

"Careful!" I shouted at Liara who turned a light shade of pink.

"Sorry. The roads are more slippery than they look," she told us as she carried on down the road.

"Well try _not _to kill us before we get there. The geth will be heartbroken" Wrex laughed at his own joke.

"Geth do not have hearts, Urdnot Wrex" Shiva told him matter-of-factly.

"Hey, Lily. You wouldn't mind if I broke your little toy, would you?" he said, glaring at Shiva for ruining his joke.

"Ignore him, Shiva," I told the flying ball as it floated around Wrex's head as he tried hitting her.

"Like I said before, Lieutenant. I take amusement at annoying others," she said before floating next to me.

"Noted" I smirked happily.

We went back into silence, the noise of the truck's engine the only thing breaking it. Eventually, I felt the car slow down as Liara began to lean forward as if trying to make out an object in the distance.

"What's wrong? Spot something?" Jane asked as she crouched next to Liara, peering out the window.

"There. In the distance" Liara said, pointing her finger at the window.

"Oh great" Jane muttered before turning to us with a smile.

"Well guys, we've found the welcoming committee," Jane told us before turning back to Liara.

"Head straight through the tunnel. Use the guns if you have to" Jane ordered before taking her place next to Wrex.

"I'd grab hold of something if I were you," she told us. Knowing my sister was serious, I grabbed hold of the metal bar above me; Wrex doing the same on his side while Jane held the one next to her since the bar above her opened the hatch for the truck.

We felt the car beginning to move again as the sound of bullets ricocheting off the paneling of the truck echoed around us.

Suddenly, the sound of a missile hitting the side of the truck was confirmed by the large dent next to Wrex's seat.

"What was that," Wrex asked Liara.

"Turrets" Liara said, continuing to drive down the tunnel.

"Well that's reassuring, isn't it?" I sighed, as the idea of Liara driving us towards our deaths was ever constant in my mind.

The sound of missiles and bullets hitting the truck continuing for what seemed like half an hour but was actually a few minutes.

Suddenly, a loud groaning sound was heard.

"Please tell me that was someone's stomach?" I prayed as I looked through the window to see Liara drive around the corner to see more geth and a colossus.

"Oh, joy" I sighed as Liara began to speed towards it.

"Uh…Liara? Liara, what are you doing?" I asked her worriedly as she drove closer and closer to it as the truck's speed began to increase.

"I suggest we say our final wishes now" Jane managed to joke.

"I'm hungry" Wrex randomly spoke as I walked up to Liara.

"Liara, I don't know why you suddenly feel the need to kill us right now, but you really need to turn the truck" I tried to reason but it was too late. The colossus was only a few feet away.

"Bugger…" I muttered as I put my arms over my head as I tried to block the incoming geth. The impact never came.

I moved my arms just in time to see the colossus topple on top off us before rolling onto the floor. She finally turned the car to see the colossus collapse onto the floor in a heap, giving off a last groan before completely dying.

"Liara…even though that worked…don't do that again" I shook my head before sitting back on my seat again.

"I thought the idea was brilliant" Jane smiled at Liara.

"Never would've thought of it" Wrex added. Liara turned a pale pink, nodding in thanks before beginning to drive again.

'I'm working with a bunch of crazies' I realized in my head as Liara entered another tunnel filled with geth.

The pattern continued: tunnel, geth, ignore geth, path, turret, tunnel, geth, ignore geth, path, more geth, etc.

Finally, we'd reached the entrance of the facility with a flaming truck blocking the truck entrance.

"Well, let's hope the truck doesn't freeze up" I commented as we left the truck and walked towards the side entrance.

Jane was about to open the door but then realized something.

"Weapons" she said as we all took out our chosen weapons. As we were entering the facility, I turned to Liara.

"Nice driving by the way. I mean, when you're not driving into a geth colossus" I grinned at her.

"Thank you" she smiled in thanks as we entered the facility, shutting the door behind us.

We had entered a small room with a door at the side, along with more ice, which was slowly becoming an eyesore.

Seeing nothing of interest, we walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a room similar to the garage we were just in.

It even had geth inside.

'By the maker, how many geth did the quarians make anyway?' I moaned mentally as we used the same tactics as before.

Suddenly, an alarm started to go off as soon as we killed the last geth.

"Now what?" Jane said, irritated.

"User alert. All Peak 15 facilities have suffered a great deal of damage" the facility's VI spoke.

"It seems biohazard materials are present throughout the facility" Shiva informed us.

"A little present from Benezia perhaps?" Wrex suggested.

"Benezia plans to destroy us. I doubt she'd leave us a present," Shiva argued with him.

"I will shoot you" Wrex threatened.

"And you will miss" she stated, floating in front of us.

I noticed Wrex take aim and put a hand on his arm.

"Easy, big guy" I said, gently pushing his arm down.

"Fine. If you don't want me to shoot it, we better find some enemies soon" Wrex stated as we continued walking up the side ramp and towards a door leading to the rest of the facility.

'Note to self: Keep Shiva away from Wrex' I thought, cautiously keeping an eye on Wrex just in case he tried to shoot her again.

We entered a corridor with two turrets facing the door on the other side.

"Virtual intelligence user interface offline" the VI continued to speak.

"Why are these turrets facing the wrong way?" Liara questioned.

"They want to keep their people in as much as they want to keep others out," Jane explained, eyeing up the turrets.

"They seem to be deactivated" Jane said, walking past them.

"So that means someone's got out," I said.

"Or someone's got in" Wrex argued.

We continued in silence, entering the elevator outside of the corridor as I felt it lift us higher into the facility. During the ride, I could've sworn I heard something crawling outside of the elevator, maybe in the vents.

'Wonder what's in this place?' I thought curious and worried as the elevator stop and opened up to a snow-covered corridor.

'Damn, I think it's colder here than it worse at the ship docks' I thought grudgingly as we walked to the other side of the corridor and opened the door.

Inside was a similar looking facility to the one back at the main station, except it was larger, covered in snow filled and with, you guessed it, more geth.

'I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here' I thought as we shot down more geth.

"Y'know, I think we need to keep a tally," Jane said over the firing bullets.

"Oh yeah?" I smiled, getting a headshot.

"Who kills the most, maybe?" Jane suggested as Liara crushed the last geth with her biotics.

"Sure" I agreed, shaking her hand in a deal.

Suddenly, the sound of a grate lifting up was heard. We all slowly regrouped so that we were in a small circle with our backs facing inwards.

"Um…what was that?" I asked them.

"Animals? Wind? This place is in bad shape," Liara suggested.

"That didn't sound like wind…" Jane said, Wrex nodding in agreement.

Suddenly, something moved in the corner of my eye and I looked up to see…what the hell is that?!

"What the hell is that?" I yelled as I stared wide-eyed as some sort of gigantic bug crawled out from under the grates in the circular tunnel above us.

After it crawled out, a loud screech was heard around us.

"I don't think it's the wind…" Liara mumbled as I felt something latch onto my back.

I spun my head to see a smaller green bug clawing on my back.

I yelped as I threw it off of me while Wrex shot it with his shotgun, making it explode green gunk.

Immediately afterwards, the green bugs surrounded us as we struggled to keep them from jumping onto us.

You see, every time one got close enough it would explode as this green smoke rose from its body. I coughed every time I accidentally breathed it in. Whatever the stuff is, I wouldn't be surprised if it was toxic.

"I'm not going to die from a bunch of bugs!" Jane yelled as she stood on all of them that got close to her, keeping away from the smoke they released.

I noticed a blue glow out of the corner of my eye and turned mu head to see Liara surrounded in a blue light before pushing her arms out, releasing a large blue force field around her that pushed all the bugs into the walls and squished them.

We all took a few moments to relax before Jane turned to Liara.

"Nice work" she said bluntly, the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

"Thank you" she smiled appreciatively.

"It would have been useful a few minutes ago, but y'know, beggars can't be choosers" I said before looking back up at the bug above us to notice another on behind it.

"Well…aren't they going to move?' I thought as I stared up at the bugs facing the door into the tunnel, but that's all they did; they didn't move a muscle.

"Well then, let's go meet the welcoming committee" I joked with Jane as we walked towards the entrance.

We stopped in front of the door when I turned to look at Jane.

"Why don't you go first?" I asked her sweetly.

She looked at me questionably before rolling her eyes and unlocking the door. I looked back at the bugs behind the window to see they still hadn't moved.

'What are they waiting for?' I thought.

I knew the answer when Jane walked around the corner and the bugs spat a green bolt in Jane's face.

"Jane!" I shouted as Wrex and Liara began shooting at the bugs while I went to check on Jane.

"You okay, sis?" I asked her as I removed her hand from her eye to see it bright red.

"No…" she said as she looked up at me. As she did, I couldn't help but notice that while she did, she wasn't looking at me specifically.

"What's wrong, Jane?" I asked her.

"I…I think I'm blind" she said as she blinked up at me.

I froze stiff.

'No…No, she can't be blind, not now. We're nowhere near any kind of help and, to top it all off, we've got killer bugs attacking us' I thought panicked.

"Are you sure?" I asked her, worriedly.

She blinked a few more times, the redness beginning to lessen on her right eye.

"Well…yes and no" she said as Wrex and Liara walked towards us. Wrex kept his shotgun out, keeping an eye down the tunnel while Liara examined Jane's eyes.

"I'm no doctor, but…it appears she's blind in one eye" Liara said sadly as she stroked Jane's cheek, her finger tracing the edge of her now-blind left eye.

"Is there anything we can do for her?" I asked Liara dejectedly.

"Like I said, I'm no doctor. She may not even be blind," she said. Shiva floated in front of me.

"We need to get her to medical attention as soon as possible" she told me.

'Brilliant…bloody brilliant' I thought angrily.

"Can you still fight?" I asked Jane hopefully. She began looking around the room before shaking her head.

"No, my eyes are still blurry" Jane sighed. I groaned, rubbing my forehead in frustration.

"Can you at least walk?" I asked her breathlessly.

She took a few steps before managing to trip over a hole in the ground. Wrex caught her arm and pulled her up again.

I shook my head before looking up at Wrex.

"Can you carry her?" I asked him.

"Uh…" he hesitated.

"Do this and you can ask me for a favor anytime" I told him. He thought for a few seconds before nodding.

He knelt on the floor while I led Jane behind him and onto his back. She struggled to get comfortable with the guns sticking into her stomach.

"Thanks for the help, Wrex" I smiled at the krogan as he held his shotgun in front of him while Jane circled her arms around his neck and her thighs latched onto his sides.

"I'm going to call you on that favor, Lily" he said as we walked down the tunnel.

As we were walking, I couldn't help but think back to what happened at the entrance.

'Why don't you go first?' repeated itself in my head over and over. I shut my eyes tightly to block it out but it didn't work.

'Why didn't I go first? Why did my sister have to take the shot? Why not me?' I thought, sighing, though a little ray of hope was still there.

'Liara did say she might not be blind' I thought, but it just left me with one thought.

'So it's fifty: fifty then. She may or may not be blind because of me' I thought guiltily.

As we reached the end of the tunnel, I looked up at Jane's form clutching onto an awkwardly walking Wrex.

'May the maker have mercy'

Please let him have mercy…


	15. The Critical Failure

We walked into the elevator, which began leading us deeper into the facility.

Wrex and Jane both seemed very uncomfortable in their position, which made me smile but I quickly wiped it off when I looked at her eyes.

Liara seemed to notice my sadness and placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned to her as she smiled at me in comfort.

I nodded in thanks as we continued the elevator ride in silence until we reached our destination, wherever it was.

The doors opened, revealing another corridor.

'God, I hope this place isn't a maze' I prayed mentally as we walked down the corridor and into a large room filled with grates, generators and pipes.

We cautiously entered the room only to be attacked by an army of those tiny bugs from before.

'Brilliant. More of them' I glared at the incoming swarm and we began to gun them down.

During the fight, another station warning began to sound.

"It must be a back-up power system, Lieutenant. It must be the station's mainframe" Liara incited as she continued t blast at the creatures.

"Can we fix it? Get this place back online?" I shouted over the creature's wails as they exploded.

Then, eventually, the last one exploded as we began to explore the room. There was two doors leading out of the room but both were locked.

"It seems this station's VI core has been shut down. You'll need to reboot the system by starting the generator" Shiva advised, floating towards a small generator to the side of the room.

Since everyone was probably having the same idea, I walked over to the generator and powered it up. Immediately after the power started, another warning was sounded.

"Critical Start-up error. Virtual Intelligence user interface offline. Manual boot required," sounded the station's VI.

"Well, you heard the lady. Let's head to the VI core," I ordered the group as we walked further into the room into a circular area where the VI core probably was since it was the only room we could enter.

"Damn. First geth, then bugs, now all systems offline. What the hell happened here?" I thought aloud as we walked around the circle barrier to find a platform leading down into a closed-off area where the core most likely was.

"Alright. You two stay here and keep guard for more of those bugs. Don't want them suddenly jumping on top of me" I joked with them as I walked onto the platform and entered the yellow-lighted VI core.

The platform stopped showing a screen with 3 columns and a line of blocks in the one on the left.

'…Wait, I've seen this before' I thought as Shiva floated towards the screen.

"Need assistance?" she asked. I shook my head, smiling.

"No need, I know what I'm doing. We had to do this puzzle back on Earth except it was called Tower of Hanoi not VI core" I told her as I began moving the blocks by using the panel.

"VI core's are games back on Earth?" she asked me.

"No but this specific core is, yes" I said as I finished the puzzle, feeling accomplished as the platform began to lift me back up to the group.

As I walked off the platform, I noticed a VI system standing next to us. She looked like Avina back at the Citadel except this VI was orange and had different hair.

"It looks like you're trying to restore the facility. Would you like help?" the VI asked politely.

"You're the virtual intelligence that runs this place?" I asked her; in case there were more VI cores I had to restart as well.

"This system is monitored to respond to the name 'Mira'. May I ask your name?" she asked me.

"My name is Lieutenant Shepard. My sister here is Commander Shepard. She work for the Citadel's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance" I replied.

"One moment, please. Council authority confirmed. You are entitled to Secure Access of all systems" she replied.

'Well…that was easy' I thought happily, knowing the work here just got a little easier.

"Please note that queries relating to corporate secrets require Privileged Access. Privileged Access is only available to Binary helix executives" Mira added.

'Oh well, I doubt we'd need the info anyway' I thought, shrugging it off.

"This system is ready to process queries. You may access me at any holographic interface within Peak 15" Mira continued.

Before I could reply, Jane's voice was heard behind Wrex.

"I need to find Matriarch Benezia," she said over Wrex shoulder.

"Lady Benezia departed on the tramway to the Rift Station subsidiary labs"

"User Alert! The tramway system is currently inoperable," she immediately told us.

'Brilliant' I faked happiness in my head while Jane continued to speak.

"What's the situation here?" Jane asked Mira.

"One moment, please. Diagnostics in progress" she told us as she stared at us.

Eventually, she continued to speak.

"Critical failure: Main reactor shut down in accordance with emergency containment procedures. Manual restart required," she told us.

'Seems the bugs have caused more problems than I thought' I thought as Mira continued.

"Critical failure: Landline connections are disabled. Passenger tramlines are offline," Mira informed us.

'Is everything in this whole facility 'critical failure'?' I thought, shaking my head.

"Damage report complete. Do you have any additional system status query?" Mira asked us.

"That's all I need for now" Jane replied quickly.

"Very well, Commander. Logging you out" she said as she disappeared. We turned around to face the door to the roof.

'Well we might as well start here' I thought as we opened the door and went inside the corridor and into the elevator at the end where is slowly lead us to the roof of the facility.

On the way up, Mira reminded us again that the landlines were down. Immediately after the warning, the doors opened to the roof.

Pipe columns stood in rows along the roof. I could just make out the generator that powered landline connections.

I cautiously took a step outside before stopping immediately.

"What's wrong?" Liara asked me.

"Don't you hear that?" I asked her, scanning the roof before opening the radar on my Omni-tool.

The radar was completely covered in red dots.

"Oh, brilliant" I said as the others looked at the radar.

"Wrex, I want you to stay at the back of the group and don't let the bugs touch her" I told him, earning a grumble from the krogan.

"Look, I understand that you want to get into the thick of the fight but you and I both know we need Jane alive and well" I tried to convince him but it didn't seem to work.

"Look, I'm not ordering you I'm asking you, Wrex" I said, standing in front of the krogan.

He stared at me before sighing and nodding.

"Alright…Lily. I'll protect her, but you better be reading with that favor" he mumbled as he motioned for me and Liara to walked in front of him.

I nodded in thanks as we took out our weapons and began to walk to the center of the roof where we were surrounded by bugs, large and small.

Liara focused her biotics on the smaller bugs; keeping them away from the group while I focused on the incoming large bugs as Wrex used his shotgun on the bugs that managed to get past us.

After a long battle, we managed to gun down the last of them.

"Whew" I sighed in relief as I turned to look at Jane and Wrex.

"You two okay?" I asked them.

"Hmm" they replied in unison.

I nodded as I began to look around the roof.

"So…where is the landlines switch? I lost it," I yelled back at the others.

"Over here" Liara said behind me as I turned to see her standing next to a generator.

"Ah, there it is" I sounded as Shiva floated towards it and turned it on.

"I encountered 776 errors when repairing the landlines interface and turning it online" Shiva reported as she flew back to my side.

"Wow" I said, watching the floating ball at my shoulder.

"Well are we just gonna stand here or are we gonna fight?" Wrex complained.

I nodded in agreement as we quickly left the roof and back into the elevator.

'Well, one 'critical failure' down, one to go' I thought unusually cheerful as the elevator doors opened.

We walked around the circle barrier and into the main room when suddenly a giant bug jumped out of a grating near the generator.

"Bloody hell, they're in the vents!" I shouted as we quickly took out our weapons and began shooting at the bug. Suddenly, it shot a green bolt at me but I managed to avoid it as it splattered onto the floor.

Suddenly, Wrex ran towards the bug and shoved it onto the floor before shooting a shotgun shell into its head.

I stared in shock before shaking it off.

I looked at Jane still clutched to Wrex's back to she her looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Wrex, you can put her down now," I told him. He seemed relieved as Jane let go of her krogan protector and sat down next to the generator.

"Everyone take a break. We leave in 5" I told the group. Wrex kept his shotgun out as he paced around the room while Liara walked to the Mira terminal to try and get more information about the facility.

"Tired?" I asked her as I sat down next to Jane, leaning my back against the generator.

"A little" she replied, rubbing her eye.

"We'll get you medical attention soon, Jane. It's just we can't do much at the moment since the place is infested with mutated bugs" I told her, making her give a small smile.

"Well, we've been in worse situations" she said, making me laugh.

"True enough, sis" I nodded, looking away before turning to Jane to see her staring at Liara.

"…Can I ask you something, sis?" I asked as she turned away from Liara to face me.

"Shoot" she said.

"Is there a…thing…between you and Liara?" I asked her awkwardly.

She was silent for a few moments before replying with a small smile.

"Was it that obvious?" she smiled at me. I laughed, nodding.

"Sorta" I smiled at my sis

"Well, congratulations then" I told her.

"For what?" she asked me.

"You've finally found someone to put up with you that isn't me" I joked. I managed to get a sharp laugh out of her before she settled with a smile.

We fell back into silence before I stood up.

"Alright, people. We've only got one more thing to fix before we can use the trams to the Rift Station and find Lady Benezia" I told everyone as they made there way towards Jane and me.

"Since Jane looks like she still needs a few more minutes of rest, Liara, I want you to stay here and watch her. It'll give Jane and Wrex a break," I told her before turning to Wrex.

"Meanwhile, you and me can turn on the main power and fight any enemies in our way. Now let's kick some ass!" I grinned at Wrex, which he replied with a similar grin while holding up his shotgun.

"Alright, Wrex. Let's go"

We entered the corridor as the door behind us shut, blocking Liara and Jane from sight.

The main reason I decided to split the group was because Wrex was an up-front fighter and I knew he hated being kept back and it would only be a matter of time before he recklessly charged into our enemies whether he was holding Jane or not.

It keeps the battle-craving krogan happy and it also gives Liara and Jane a chance to talk while she gets the blood flowing through her legs again. I doubt having to be forced into gripping the back of an armoured krogan with your thighs isn't comfortable for the person or the krogan.

We walked together in silence as we entered an elevator that eventually, after travelling through the never-ending corridors, led us to a control room of sorts. There were panels in a line below a wide viewing window, showing that the geth had completely infested the area.

'Well this should keep the krogan busy' I thought as I looked back at the control panel.

"Shiva, do any of these control panels work the power generator or whatever we need to start up?" I asked my companion as she floated to the panels, stopping for a second in front of each one before returning to my side.

"None of these are what we're looking for. The controls are linked inside there," she said as she shone a small, white laser at the silo-like container in front of the viewing window.

"Well then, time to put those guns to use, Wrex" I told him as we took out our respective weapons. The second we opened the door; we were already ambushed by a pair of jumpers.

They didn't last long since Wrex had suddenly gotten trigger-happy.

'Brilliant: a trigger-happy krogan. This should be fun' I sounded in my head as we walked down the glass corridor. Wrex didn't waste time shooting down the geth that came around the corner at the end, leaving bullet holes in the floor and shattering some of the glass walls surrounding us.

'Damn, never piss off a krogan' I made a note to myself as we turned the corner at the end to see no geth hiding down the corridor.

"I think you scared them off" I joked as I walked down the corridor.

"Not surprised" He said cockily.

Shiva floated around his head.

"I doubt the geth would be scared of one krogan," she said matter-of-factly. I couldn't tell if she was trying to insult him or was just saying a fact. Unfortunately, Wrex took the former.

"Why you little…" he glared at the ball, taking out his shotgun.

"Wrex save your bullets for the geth. We need Shiva working" I tried to reason with him.

"I need a little target practice," he said, aiming at Shiva.

"For your terrible aiming? I'm surprised you didn't shoot all the windows in that corridor. Can't you tell the difference between the geth and a sheet of glass?" she mocked him.

"Shiva…" I warned her, knowing pissing off the krogan is not a good thing to do at the moment.

Wrex glared daggers at the ball before…lowering his weapon?

I watched, confused, as he put his gun away while staring at Shiva.

"Y'know what…you're all right" he said, which confused me even more.

If Shiva had human emotions, she'd probably be confused too.

"Shiva…why didn't he shoot you?" I asked her as he walked inside the container. She was silent for a few moments before replying in a confident sort-of voice.

"He respects me" she replied, floating towards him.

'Respect…what?' I thought before giving up, knowing it was pointless. Suddenly a noise echoed in the room before a system message was sounded, saying the generator was back online.

'Brilliant. We're reading to head to the station now. I hope it's better there than here' I thought as Shiva and Wrex came back to me.

"Well, since we're already here, do you want to search the room for supplies we could use?" I asked the group.

"Could be something useful here," Wrex agreed. Shiva just made a noise before floating back to my shoulder.

"At your service" she said, which I guess was her way of saying 'go for it'

Seeing no objections, we began to explore the other side of the room, which was oddly crowded with 'jumpers', soldiers and 'destroyers'

'You'd think they'd try to ambush us' I thought as Wrex charged into the bulk of the geth. Those destroyers never stood a chance.

At least it wasn't all for nothing as we came across medi-gel, ammo and armor upgrades and a few credits while exploring the top floor.

"Well then, we should probably head back to the others" I told Wrex as we walked back through the corridors and into the elevator. After traveling down in the elevator and a few more corridors, the door to the main room opened, allowing the noises of gunfire to resonate in the corridor.

We didn't' have time to react before a final shot was heard and the bug dropped dead.

"You guys okay?" I asked Jane and Liara who were putting their guns away.

"Yeah, we're fine. The thing never stood a chance," Jane said cockily as we regrouped in the center of the room.

"Wait, I thought you couldn't shoot?" I questioned her.

"Not at a distance. It was still blurry but I was practically next to it so I could see its shape" she explained as I accepted her excuse.

"So do we need any more repairs done?" Liara asked us.

"All critical failures inside the facility have been eliminated. We can now enter the transit hub" Shiva replied, floating to the door on the other side of the room.

"Time to pay Benezia a visit" Wrex said as he awkwardly piggybacked Jane towards the door.

Seeing Liara flinch at Wrex's choice of words, I knew this bothered her.

"Are you okay, Liara?" I whispered to her as we began to follow the rest of the group.

"I'm fine. The bug barely touched me" she replied but she knew that wasn't why I was asking.

"Liara, you and I both know why I'm asking-" I began but she cut me off.

"I'm fine, Lily" she bit out, leaving no room to argue.

I sighed silently before nodding.

"Okay then" I said, leaving Liara alone for now.

We entered the elevator and while it lifted us up to the transit hub a system message to said over the intercomm.

"Now entering the decontamination and transit hub," Mira said.

"User Alert! Loose contaminants in the decontamination chamber; access to passenger tramways inadvisable"

"Sounds cheerful," I said offhand as the elevator stopped. We walked down the small corridor with two doors to the right.

Deciding to do them in order, I opened the first one. The door led to a control room of sorts with the chamber next to us. 'Loose contaminants' turned out to be three large bugs facing the second door.

"They're locked in," I observed as Liara came up beside me.

"We could hot-wire the door. Looks like the trams to the subsidiary stations are beyond it" Liara suggested.

Shiva did a sweep of the control room with a blue scanner before floating to a control panel in front of the observation window to the decontamination chamber.

"This panel controls the failsafe system which will eliminate the contaminants I the chamber" Shiva informed us before falling silent.

"The panel is broken" she finished.

"Is anything working in this facility?" I said irritably before sighing.

"How can we fix it, Shiva?" I asked her, with only a hint of annoyance.

"One moment, please" Shiva said.

We stood there, patiently waiting, before suddenly green jets of smoke came from the ceiling in the chamber. The bugs screamed loudly before falling to the floor.

"The panel is fixed" Shiva spoke immediately after the last bug fell.

I opened my mouth to say something but shut it quickly, shaking my head.

"Well done, Shiva," was all I said before we left the control room and into the now decontaminated decontamination chamber.

Not wasting time, we opened the other door, revealing _another _corridor. At least this one was different: we weren't attacked by an army of small bugs in the other corridors.

Following the same routine, we quickly defeated them as we continued down the corridors to the tram station.

'Finally' I thought as we walked past the waiting chairs dotted around the large room and into the tram.

The others sat down on the chairs, Wrex had to hover over the chair so when Jane let go, she'd be on the seat. I walked to the panel and control it to go to the station.

A few more buttons later, the tram was moving as I sat down next to Jane with Liara and Wrex sitting opposite us on the other side of the tram.

'Next stop: Benezia' I thought as I looked sympathetically at Liara. I knew she wasn't handling this well, even if she won't admit it. I just hope she's able to face it when the time comes.

Jane whispering next to me took me out of my thoughts.

"You okay there, sis?" she asked.

I turned to her, her eyes looking worse than before. I'd use a medi-gel but an uncommon bug hurt her. I need to know what it is I'm supposed to be treating before we can find a cure for it. This is why I'm hoping there's a fully functional medical station where we're going.

"I'm fine, sis" I finally answered.

She nodded before turning to face the others.

'I'm fine. I'm just worried you're not' I said mentally before turning away from Jane as we continued to travel to the station.


	16. The Other Station

I was slowly drifting off to sleep before the station came into view.

I stretched before standing up from my seat, seeing the rest of the group do the same.

We all gathered around the door to the tram as it slowly pulled into the station and stopped, making a noise as the doors pulled open.

It looked exactly the same as the other station, except there was another door. I didn't bother looking up at the sign since the red colour of the door panel told me everything.

Instead, we entered the unlocked door next to it, which lead to two other doors. Again, one locked and one unlocked.

Shrugging lightly, we opened the unlocked door, revealing an elevator.

We all gathered inside as the door closed and traveled deeper into the station.

A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing a small-armed group: two humans and a turian, aiming straight at us.

"Stand down" the one of the men who I assumed was the commander of the group spoke up, signaling the others to lower their weapons.

"Sorry, we couldn't be sure what was on the tram" the man apologized to me, as we got closer.

"I'd only be upset if they'd fired" I replied, understanding.

"I'm Captain Ventralis. We guard the barricade here to stop those bugs from coming through" he introduced himself.

"Even hopped up on stems, my men know the rule: two legs good, four legs bad" he added.

"Good rule" I commented.

"Look, you're human and that's enough that I won't shoot. But I'd like to know who you are, ma'am" he told me.

"My name's Lieutenant Shepard and the injured woman here is Commander Shepard. A Spectre" I added. That caught his attention as he turned to look at the blind-eyed soldier clutching onto Wrex awkwardly.

"Huh…Well I won't look a heavily-armed horse in the mouth" he replied, turning his eyes back to me. I could tell by his tone of voice that he didn't think Jane exactly measured up to the 'Spectre image' at the moment.

"The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there anymore" he began describing the situation.

"The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post…we had a lot more staff then" he finished, sounding tired. I felt sympathy for the man and try to encourage him.

"You were taken by surprise and had civilians to protect. You did a good job, Captain," I told him, sending him a small smile.

"Yeah? Sure as hell doesn't feel like it" he replied pessimistically but his spirits had lightened, I could tell.

"The board sent an asari to clean up the mess. She went to the hot labs yesterday. We haven't heard from her since" he added.

"Think it's our asari, Shepard?" Wrex asked behind me.

"I think you're right" I said as I turned to face Wrex before turning my attention back to Ventralis.

"Is she still over there?" I asked him.

"I dunno. I don't see what one person could do," he answered.

"There's an emergency elevator out by the trams. This card will let you activate it. It will let you down into the hot labs," he told me, passing me the card.

"Oh, and if you need any first aid, Dr. Cohen's downstairs in the med bay" he said, glancing at Jane.

"Brilliant" I gave a bright smile before turning to the group.

"Let's move out. We need to get Jane's eyes treated ASAP" I told them.

"Well, best be off then, Captain. We've got work to do," I told him.

"Yeah, I hear th-" he stopped mid-sentence as screeching was heard around us.

"Hell! Man the perimeter!" Captain yelled, aiming his gun behind us. I spun round, rifle drawn, to see two of those bugs crawl out from the floor grating.

We separated from each other as we took cover behind the various barricades in the room. I crouched beside the turian guard and began shooting at the bugs.

"You've got good aim," the turian said, glancing at me before focusing on the bugs.

"Bit hard to miss 'em," I joked, earning a chuckle from the turian. I glanced at the turian before focusing on the bugs again. Suddenly, I began to think of how much his chuckle reminded me of Garrus and got the sudden want to see him.

I shook my head shocked at myself.

'Where the hell did that come from?' I shook my head as the last of the bugs was shot down.

Feeling a bit odd after that moment, I took the time to press my fingers to my forehead in an attempt to soothe the slowly growing migraine.

"You okay?" the turian asked as he helped pull me up.

"Yeah…just a bit out of it right now" I shot him a quick smile before rejoining with the rest of the group with the captain.

"Thanks for the help. Every few hours, a group comes up the tram tunnel. It's actually better since we locked down the elevator" He told us as I stood in-between Wrex/Jane and Liara.

"They always attack here. It's an obvious kill zone" Jane told him, over Wrex's shoulder, probably wondering if he realized that fact or not.

"The only other option is over the mountain and down through the ducts. And they'd freeze like everywhere else" he explained to Jane as she waved a dismissive hand, telling us that she didn't care why he was here, only pointing out the danger of their position like a teacher would explain to a young child.

Shrugging off her dismissal, he continued talking.

"I don't know why they keep throwing themselves against our defenses. Even-" I quickly cut him off.

"Not to sound rude, but I want my sis to get to the med bay as soon as possible" I said a bit too harshly but what can you expect: my sister has the chance of becoming blind if we don't analyze her and Ventralis is standing here, chatting to me like there's nothing else to do.

"Oh, of course. The med bay is downstairs from the main room" he said, standing aside as he let us pass.

"Didn't think you'd remember me back here" she joked, a lop-sided grin on her face like a happy drunk.

I rolled my eyes, wondering how she's managing to smile as we eventually reached the main room and immediately headed towards the stairs.

A few moments later, we came across a man tending to two patients who wouldn't stop fidgeting and groaning.

He must've heard us as he quickly turned towards us.

"Who are you, then? You're obviously not one of Ventralis's men. I'd recognize you," he said before noticing Jane clutching to Wrex.

"Now what do we have here?" he mumbled curiously, walking to get a closer look at Jane. He gasped as he pulled back quickly.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, worried.

"Quick, put her on one of the beds he said as he began typing on a medical panel as Wrex laid Jane on a bed. Well it was more of a stretcher than a bed to be honest.

"I can tell this is going to go well" Jane continued to joke as the doc came back with a medical flashlight.

"Stay still" he told her as he examined her eyes more closely.

From here, I could see green leaking from her tear ducts but what caught my attention was the large white dots nestled right on the outer edge of her eyes.

"Doc, what're those white dots in her eyes," I asked him. He sighed before standing up.

"A very, very bad thing" he spoke grimly before turning to us.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked me. I suddenly felt a grim and foreboding feeling nestle deep in my stomach as I nodded bravely, bracing myself for the news.

"Those white dots…are eggs"

I stood, wide-eyed, at the doctor before looking at my sister who surprisingly took it well.

"Well I'm fucked," she said in a calm tone, facing the ceiling before turning back to us.

"You're not 'fucked', we just need to take them out," he said, pulling a small table carrying tools towards him.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" I said, eyeing the tools on the table.

"I've done this too many times to know that I need to get them out as soon as possible" he said, giving Jane a drug that made her slowly drift to sleep.

I was still suspicious of him but he is the only medical care for miles so I'll just have to live with it.

Hearing moaning from the other side of the room, I turned to see two patients on stretchers writhing in what looked like extreme pain.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked the doc. He glanced at them before turning back to Jane.

"The venom from the bugs has made it into their bloodstream. The venom is slowly dissolving the tissue from inside the body and eventually…y'know" he said.

"Wait…you mean…" I turned to the doc in horror.

"Basically, they're being eaten from the inside out" the doc explained.

"Just what kind of bug are we dealing with here?" I asked. There is no way in hell this bug is a natural species in space.

"If you must know, we're dealing with Rachni" he replied.

"Rachni?" the group all said in unison.

"Yes" he gave a short reply.

"But…aren't they extinct?"

"Tell that to the bugs attacking us" the doctor answered.

"But I remember reading about the rachni from books about the rachni war. It said they were of a hive mind, like an ant. It had a queen, why would it be laying eggs?" I asked him. If the bugs were rachni, they wouldn't be spewing eggs. Only the queen can do that.

"They've evolved," he explained.

"Evolved?" I questioned him. He sighed before turning to face me.

"Yes, the rachni once had a queen but they don't anymore. They've adapted to this knowledge by releasing a hormone in their blood that turns their venom more deadly but also, by chance, allows eggs to grow in sacs from the venom's liquid"

"Why can't these things die out like normal bugs" Wrex finally spoke.

"When are we ever that lucky, Wrex?" I sighed before turning back to the doc as we slowly began to pull out one of the eggs and it was _**huge**_.

I gaged at the sight before turning to the doc.

"Do you need help, doctor?" I asked, wanting to leave the room ASAP.

"…Yes, there is something" he said, putting the newly removed egg onto the table before turning to me.

"Ever since we discovered the effects of the venom, I've been trying to create a cure for its effects on us" he began explaining.

"But once I figured out the solution to the cure, the labs had to be under quarantine due to the rachni attack" he continued.

"I need that cure, else my patients will die" he finished, motioning to the writhing patients near us.

"It will also help her recovery since, without the effects of the venom, the eggs won't hatch," he continued, motioning to Jane.

" 'Course we still need to dig the blighters out but this way it'll be easier knowing the sacs won't burst at any given moment" the doctor added.

"Alright then. I guess we'll need to see the Captain again about giving us access to the quarantine labs," I told the group.

"I will remain here and help the doc care for the patients awaiting your return" Shiva said, floating next to Jane.

"Thank you, Shiva" I nodded at her before leading the rest of us out of the med bay and down the corridors to Captain Ventralis.

He was still in the same position when we left him.

"Captain" I caught his attention as he turned to face me.

"We need access to the quarantine labs," I told him.

"Sorry but I can't. The labs are under quarantine due to bugs and I can't risk my men to go in," he said.

"You don't have to. My people can handle it and we need to use the labs to make a cure for the bugs venom," I explained. He stood there, thinking, before eventually nodding.

"Alright, lieutenant. I message the guard at the quarantine labs to let you through" he said. I nodded in thanks before returning to the main room and entering a corridor leading to an elevator near the med bay that slowly lowered us down. As the doors opened, the first thing that caught my attention was a volus who seemed to be arguing with himself.

"Um…are you okay, sir?" I asked him as we came closer. He looked up at us before replying.

"You came to find out about them didn't you?" he asked me.

I looked at him confused.

"You mean those things out there?" I asked him

"Yes. I'm the only survivor from the lab y'know," he added.

'Oh, so this is Han Olar' I thought

"I need to know more about those bugs out there," I told him.

"About the rachni?" he asked.

'Well, looks like the doc isn't the only one who believes they're rachni' I thought.

"Where did they come from?" I asked him.

"They found it in a derelict ship. An egg. Waiting since the last battles. They brought it here-" he was cut off by a couple of scientists on the other side of the room.

"Shut up! God. You want to get us killed?" one of the scientists yelled at Han.

"I don't have any control over who lives and dies here. Do you?" Han yelled back.

"If you're going to be crazy, be the quiet kind" the other scientist ordered.

"Crazy? I'm sane. God, am I sane" Han whispered the last bit before turning back to me.

"I need to know everything about the rachni" I asked him. Unless I want us to end up like Jane, Maker bless her, I need to know what I'm dealing with. Wrex probably knows how to handle himself but, unlike him, we haven't had any experience with this sort of thing.

"I told you all I can" Han replied, making me frown in disappointment.

"We brought the rachni back from the dead. In retrospect, a bad decision" Han added.

I nodded before saying goodbye and taking my leave towards the door on the side of the room leading into the labs.

"You're not part of the crew" the guard by the room told me.

"I have Ventralis' permission to go in there" I replied.

"Yeah, he radioed. He also said you have to prove you're not contaminated to get out" the guard replied before pressing a few buttons on the door panel.

"You got a death wish, you should stand watches on the barricades," the guard said as we past him, entering the labs.

The lab had a pretty simple layout, none of that high-tech gear you get in those fancy scientific corporation buildings. I was glad for this since it was easier to work out where the cure was being made. It would also make it easier to finish.

Good thing too, since I always got a D in chemistry.

"Okay, looks easy to do" I said, looking at the instructions next to the machine.

"All the same, do you want me to do this" Liara walked up to me.

"Please" I smiled sheepishly at Liara. She nodded, smiling, as she went towards the machine and did her magic.

Unfortunately, her magic also conjured up an asari commandos and geth. Brilliant.

"Your mission ends here, Commander Shepard" I turned to see an asari scientist surrounded with geth and commandos.

"Wait…you're not Commander Shepard" the asari said, confused.

"No, I'm her sister" I said, taking my rifle and seeing the rest of the group armed as well.

"What happened to Ventralis' men?" I questioned, although I already knew the answer.

"I didn't have permission to come in. He got in my way" the asari replied coldly.

"I was ordered to eliminate you and your sister, should the opportunity arise. And here you are, trapped in this lab" the asari continued.

"Technically, I'm not trapped. You're just in my way. Now my sister is injured upstairs so I suggest you get out of my way now before I make you" I glared.

"Thank you for that information. Things will go a lot easier if she's injured" the asari replied.

I didn't have time to reply before the asari was propelled into the door. I turned to see Liara's hand aimed at her.

"I'd pay to see that again" I joked with Liara. She gave a small smile before her attention returned to the asari. Once again, she 'picked up' the asari and flung her into the wall.

"Pay up" Liara spoke as the asari growled in anger.

"What are you doing you idiots?! Shoot them!" she yelled at the group who suddenly realized what was happening and began to fire at us. We took for cover behind crates placed around the lab as we began the onslaught.

Overall, that was the quickest battle I've ever had. Benezia must have absolutely no faith in our combat skills.

"Well, shall we?" I motioned towards the doors as we put away our weapons and left the lab.

As we were leaving the lab, a tap on my shoulder turned my attention to Liara's outstretched hand.

"What?" I asked her confused. She flexed her hand before I realized what she wanted.

"Are you being serious?" I asked her. She nodded, smiling.

"You did say" she replied as I pulled out a few credits from my travel purse.

"What happened to the shy Liara I used to know" I joked as I placed the coins in her hand.

"I've spent too much time with Jane" she replied, putting the credits in her purse.

I laughed, grinning, as I opened the door to the lab. The grin was quickly removed from my face as I saw the body of the guard by the door.

'We can't just leave him like that' I thought as I slowly made my way to the guard.

'Maybe…' I thought optimistically as I placed two fingers on his neck checking for a pulse. There wasn't one. I sighed as I closed his eyes before standing up and headed towards the elevator.

"We'll inform the Captain after we give the cure to the doc" I told the group as we entered the elevator up to the main room. The second the doors opened, we made our way down the corridor and did a loop around the corner and down the stairs into the med bay where the doc was cleaning his medical tools.

"Hey, doc, we've got your cure" I said as Liara handed over the vial.

"Excellent. This will help cure the venom in your sister" he replied.

"What about your patients?" I asked.

"Oh yes, them too" he added as he applied a small dose on Jane's eyes before doing the same with the other two patients, except they had to drink it, which immediately caught my attention.

"Doc?" I asked, walking towards the patients.

"How did they get infected by the venom?" I asked him. He visibly paused for a moment, as if not expecting the question, before continuing with his work.

"Not sure. I wasn't there" he replied.

I looked at him suspiciously before turning back to the patients. As far as I could tell, they didn't look visibly injured, not like Jane where the areas where the venom hit were turning pink.

"Doc, they're not injured with venom" I told him, matter-of-factly. Again, he paused before continuing.

"They definitely are injured" he replied, sounding slightly nervous.

"But not with venom" I argued.

He sighed once again before turning to me.

"I-I have a non-disclosure agreement. I shouldn't discuss it with anyone outside of the company" he said, apparently giving up on the act.

"But you're going to, because I don't like being lied to" I continued to argue.

"You tell him, sis" I heard Jane mumbled form her stretcher, the sleeping drug obviously wearing off.

He nodded at me.

"I'd like to think the company finds our lives more important than their secrets" he told me.

"You know Mira? The VI for Peak 15? She handles the safety protocols for our experiments here" he began to explain. I immediately remembered her

"We reactivated her on our way through central station" I told him.

"That was you? I'm grateful. Until she came online, the automatic equipment wouldn't work," he added.

"We lost connection to Mira in the middle of an experiment, and the quarantine failed" he continued.

"They were exposed to a toxin. Something we were working on" he finished but I could tell there was more to say.

"I understand your caution, but I need details. What you say won't go beyond these walls" I tried to persuade him.

He nodded before continuing.

"It's a bio weapon. Based on an exotic life form discovered on the frontier. They wanted something that could kill the creature" he began.

"But there was no profit in something that kills one species on the frontier. We kept working on it. Adapted it to affect more species" he continued.

"Thoros-B is highly infectious, but can't pass from one person to another. Like a bio war attack without a pandemic spread" he finished.

"It doesn't matter how 'safe' you make it. Biological weapons are illegal" I glared at him like it was his entire fault. I know it wasn't but he's the only one I can glare at right now.

"Militaries, governments-They'll get this kind of weapon one way or another. We're trying to limit the damage. I know you can't see that" he finished, shrinking under my glare.

"You're right. There's a reason the Citadel Conventions forbid bioweapons, Doctor," I lectured him.

"I didn't expect you to understand," he added, brushing me off.

"Well since you got the cure from the labs, I can aid these people who've been infected. It will also help your sister but not fully" he finished.

"What do you mean?" I questioned him.

"I mean the eggs from the rachni have gone deeper than the surface of her eyes," he explained.

"We just don't have the tools to get the rest of them out"

"Well how do you get them out?" I asked him.

"You're going to have to…for a small time…dislodge her eyes from her head"

I stared at the doctor before me before shaking my head quickly.

"Okay. Now you're crazy," I said walking towards Jane before he grabbed my arm.

"It's not crazy. You need to remove the eggs that are…how do you say…stuck behind her eyes" he tried to explain but I was having none of it.

"You are not shoving a scalpel or whatever you use in her eyes. Maker's mercy, you'll blind her!" I yelled at him before making Jane stand.

"I won't-wait, what're you doing?" he questioned me as I helped Jane stand up.

"I'm not leaving her here with you. First you say your creating a bioweapon, that's illegal by the way, and now you want to pull my sister's eyes out! We're done," I told him as I lead gain up the stairs. The others eventually followed me out of the med bay.

"Um, Lily?" Liara began, catching my attention.

"Yes?" I turned to see he uncomfortable expression.

"He wasn't acting crazy, back there, he was being completely serious" Liara told me matter-of-factly.

"Liara, are you seriously suggesting I let Mr. crazy doctor down there pull out her eyes?" I questioned her, hoping she remembered that part about the eyes.

"Yes and I doubt his name is crazy" Liara added.

"No, it's crazy _doctor_, not crazy. I mean, who do we know who's sane?" I joked, trying to evade the topic. She sighed, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Look, I know little about your human history but I can assure you that it has change drastically. What was once problems on your planet is now just common annoyances as far as I understand" Liara began to explain. I stared at her, still not convinced.

She sighed once again before trying another tactic.

"Look, you know more than anyone that I want to help Jane recover as quickly as possible. Do you honestly believe I'd want this done if I felt there was any threat to her life?" she questioned me. Damn, she had me there.

Even though I wasn't completely convinced, I slowly shook my head at Liara.

"No, I don't. Okay, Liara, I'll let him…pull her eyes out" I finished. God, I didn't think I'd ever say that.

She smiled at me, before leading Jane back down into the med bay. I sighed before following her.

"Changed your mind?" the doctor said, facing his machines.

"Okay, doctor…do the procedure" I told him, standing next to the Jane as Liara and the doctor stood the other side.

He began fiddling with his tools while my curiousity grew as I stared at Jane's eyes.

"So how does this work?" I asked him as he turned to face me.

"Well, first we have to knock her out" he said as he applied sleeping gas to Jane.

"This way, her blood circulates slower around the body and lesser brain activity," he said.

"Why does the brain activity matter?" I questioned him.

"The brain receives information, as it were, from various parts of the body. How do you think we can tell if we're hungry or not?" he began to explain as Jane's muscles began to visibly relax.

"By lessening the brain activity, it should lengthen the time before the brain can interpret the signal from her eyes that they are being injured" he continued.

"The lesser blood flow will decrease the amount of blood from her sockets and help minimize the possible damage" he finished.

"But couldn't this blind her?" I asked him. He quickly shook his head.

"The automatic machines from one of our generous clientele specialize in cautious things, including this," he said, pressing buttons on a panel next to a claw-like machine.

'Oh, god I can't watch this' I said, feeling nauseous as I turned around.

"So who is this 'generous' client, then?" I questioned him.

I was met with silence before he spoke.

"I can't say," he said.

"Well, they must be rich to afford to donate machines that can do this" I told him.

"Money isn't a problem with this particular client" he replied quickly.

"What, is he a billionaire or something?" I interrogated him, trying to distract myself from Jane's predicament.

"Who knows" he replied behind me, evading the questions.

I sighed. I wasn't getting anywhere with this guy.

"Can you at least give me a clue to who this guy is?" I asked him. Another silence before he replied with an odd voice.

"He has humanities interests at heart" he mumbled before the sound of sickening squelches was heard behind me.

"Humanities interests? Then why the hell did he donate this equipment here?"

"Well I guess there's no harm in it. He said he's strengthening bonds with certain companies"

"Why?" I asked him.

I heard a sound, like he was shrugging, before he replied.

"Ever heard the saying 'strength in numbers'?" he asked me. I doubt that's the only reason he gave his equipment. I don't know who this guy is but he's definitely up to something, but what? What could he possibly do by sending lab equipment to the facility?

I put a hand to my head as I felt the presence of an oncoming headache.

"Perhaps you should do something else while you wait. This may take a while," the doc told me. I nodded before eventually leaving the med bay with the others.

'Wonder if I'll ever figure out who the mystery client is with 'human interests' at heart'


	17. The Matriarch and The Queen

As we made our way out of the med bay and into the main room, I turned to the rest of the group.

"Ok, while the doc is still healing Jane's eyes, we need to figure out where Benezia is hiding. Any ideas?" I asked the group for their input.

"Maybe we should investigate the area down below where the volus was. Wasn't there a door right behind him?" Wrex replied.

"Good point. Alright then, let's head back downstairs" I said as we entered the corridor leading to the elevator. After a quick trip, the doors opened, allowing us into the room where Han Olar was arguing with himself again.

"Hello?" I called out to him. He looked up at me, seeming to forget his argument.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Where does that door lead?" I asked, nodding towards the door behind him. If there's a chance I'm going to stumble upon something I shouldn't, I want to know.

"That door? It leads to maintenance" He replied, turning back to me.

"Thanks" I nodded at the volus before thinking about Benezia

"One more thing: do you have any idea where Benezia is in the facility?" I questioned him.

"It is possible she's in maintenance. I think I remember her passing through here earlier, but I rarely notice such things so it might not have been her" he replied.

"Thanks" I ended the conversation as I walked towards the before-mentioned door.

"Be careful" I heard him whisper behind me. I turned, confused, but saw him already returning to his muttering self. I turned back to the maintenance door but saw it was locked. Making sure no one important was around; I unlocked the door quickly as we all entered the now unlocked corridor as the doors shut behind us.

When we opened the door at the end of the corridor, it revealed a smaller corridor, which lead off into an icy chamber.

Weapons free, we walked into the chamber, only to be attacked by a small group of rachni, no more than 3 or 4.

After dealing with the nuisance, we continued into another chamber where we came across a door, which revealed another two doors leading off of a small platform surrounded by machinery.

One looked like our way out of here and back up to the trams and the other looked like it was heading towards one of the labs at the station.

'Well it's as good a place as any' I thought as we walked towards the door

I quickly glanced at Liara to see if she was okay and ready. She looked slightly lost before noticing my staring. Her gaze turned hard as she nodded at me.

'I'm ready' she signaled in her eyes. I nodded before turning back, sighing.

'I hope you're right, Liara' I thought mentally as I opened the door into the maintenance room and was immediately confronted by Benezia the second we entered the lab.

'Balls' I thought, hoping I'd have more time to prepare for this confrontation.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair" she said, staring towards something as she continued her rant.

"Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies," she continued. I couldn't quite see what she was looking at behind the parts of machinery in the way, but it was definitely big.

After finishing, she turned towards us and walked a few paces in our direction.

"I will not be moved by sympathy, no matter whom you bring into this confrontation" Benezia spoke as she looked towards Liara. I could sense Liara's discomfort under her mother's gaze.

I pushed myself slightly in front of Liara as Benezia's gaze turned back to me.

"Liara's here because she wants to be, not because I asked her" I told her, slightly glaring at the woman in front of me but yet I still felt pity for her. I wonder how truly emotionless she is about her daughter fighting against her.

"Indeed. What have you told her about me, Liara?" she questioned her.

"What could I say? That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?" she told her mother, sounding desperate.

She ignored Liara, which I could tell hurt her inside as she turned to face me.

"Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have" Benezia told me. It didn't take much to tell she was threatening us.

"I can't believe you'd kill your own daughter" I stared up in disgust at the woman who was supposed to care for her daughter, then again my mother hasn't exactly shown her caring side to me a lot either so I could relate to Liara in this and I bet Jane probably could too.

"I now realize I should have been more stricter with her" she said, finishing off the conversation.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by biotic energy and prepared to attack. I barely managed to move my foot before I was frozen to the spot.

'More balls, this idea was brilliant!' I thought sarcastically as the door opened on the other side of the room, revealing asari commandos charging towards us.

'I'm at a ball park!' I shouted mentally as I began to feel the effects of the biotics wear off and I managed to get behind cover before being blasted by kinetic energy. I looked to my right to see Liara and Wrex crouching behind cover as a commando began shooting at us from the top of the walkway in front us.

"Wrex! If they come close, I want you to use your shotgun and, if necessary, charge them. Otherwise, stay behind cover!" I yelled at the krogan over the sounds of biotics being thrown left, right and center. I then looked towards Liara.

"Liara, I want you to throw every biotic talent you know at them. Keep them distracted, okay? I've got an idea" I ordered Liara. She nodded before focusing her biotics at the commandos.

While she got their attention, staying behind cover, I began to move myself around the platform, circling the tank. I didn't glance up, keeping focus on my main target.

Gently picking up the fire containment system in the corner of the room, I continued to creep around to the other side of the room where the asari came from. With their backs facing me, I placed a manual-detonation grenade on the system.

Detonator in hand, I gently crept behind cover in case the plan went to shit, which wouldn't be surprising if it did.

Standing up slightly, I signaled Liara and Wrex to get behind cover. Managing to see it, they hid behind their cover just as I threw the container towards the asari.

Immediately pressing the detonator, I felt something sharp graze my shoulder as I ducked behind cover. I slowly looked up to see the plan was successful.

Making use of the time, I checked my should to see a fragment from the containment system had managed to slice a hole into my armor.

'Hmm, I think it's time me and the crew get new armaments' I thought passively before a bullet shot passed my face. Reacting quickly, I dodged behind another conveniently placed cover point as I looked passed it to see a group of geth have appeared to replace the commandos.

'Least we know how to deal with these things' I thought positively as I fell into my usual strategy when dealing with the geth.

A few more bullets later, the last geth fell, a bullet lodged in the eyes.

'Boom, headshot' I quirked my lip in amusement, before returning my focus to the fight as Benezia sent more geth towards us.

It was no different to the last fight, except they went down more quickly thanks to the power of Wrex's biotic charge.

We regrouped back onto the main platform where Benezia crouched in front of the tank.

I still didn't look inside, focusing on Benezia to make sure she doesn't try anything.

"This is not over" Benezia said, slowly standing up next to the tank.

"Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear" Benezia said fanatically before turning to us, slowly.

"Start talking, Benezia. What's Saren's next move?" I ordered her, just wanting to get Jane and get off this planet. She stood there for a few moments before replying.

"I will not betray him. You..." she stopped midsentence before slowly continuing.

"You must listen…Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions…briefly, but indoctrination is strong" Benezia finished as my left eyebrow slowly lifted up as my expression turned from tired to confused.

What the hell is indoctrination?

"Why are you able to break free of his control now?" I questioned her, focusing back on her.

Again, she took a few moments to replying to the question.

"I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. Saving it for a moment where I could help destroy him…it will not last long" Benezia replied.

"So you could turn on me again?" I asked her; trying to make sense of the situation I've gotten myself into.

"Yes, but it would not be my will, Shepard" She answered.

"People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him, worship him; you would do anything for him. The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary," Benezia explained but it just made me even more confused.

So a ship called Sovereign makes you idolize Saren against your will…go figure.

"Ok, I'm guessing Sovereign is a special model of a warship. Where'd it come from?" I interrogated her.

"I cannot say, the geth did not build it. The technology is far more advanced than any known species. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you…it is subtle at first…I thought I was strong enough to resist but then I became a willing tool, eager to serve. He sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay…It's position was lost thousands of years ago" she finished as I was slowly but surely putting the pieces together…remember I said slowly.

"Wait, how does something that big go missing?" I asked her, wondering how the hell we lost a relay.

"4,000 years ago, a star nearby went supernova. The shockwave propelled the relay out of its system, but it did not damage it. Its precise vector or speed is impossible to determine…as millennia passed, the nebula created by the nova

enveloped the relay…it is difficult to find any cold object in interstellar space, particularly something swathed in hot dust and radiation" she finished.

"So, someone on Noveria found it?" I continued to question her.

"2,000 years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy" Benezia began.

"They discovered the relay…rachni could share memories from generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers…I took the location of the relay from the Queen's mind…I was not gentle" Benezia said, looking sullen.

"So, why does Saren need the Mu Relay?" I asked her.

"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit. I would tell you more if I could, but Saren did not share his counsel with me…I was merely a servant to his cause" she added.

Trying to help _our_ cause, I decided a little persuasion was needed.

"You can still make it right. Give me the information" I tried to persuade her.

"I was not myself, but…I should have been stronger" Benezia said, a lost expression on her face.

She started to walk towards us before standing in front of me.

"I transcribed the data to an OSD. Take it, please," she said as I took the card from Benezia.

"Knowing the relay's co-ordinates is not enough. Do you know where he planned to go from there?" Liara asked her mother.

"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination, but you must find out quickly. I transmitted the co-ordinates to him before you arrived…you have to stop…me" she began, sounding panicked. I could tell she was beginning to lose control.

"I c-I can't…his teeth are at my ear, fingers on my spine…you shou-you should" she gasped in what sounded like pain.

Liara stepped forwards towards her, panic written on her face.

"Mother! I…don't leave, fight him!" she begged Benezia as she balanced on the panel in front of the tank before standing straight. She quickly turned to look at Liara.

"You've always made me proud, Liara" she said before turning back to the tank. Liara looked at the floor sadly as I put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, trying to hide the pistol in my other hand.

I knew where this was going to end.

Slowly, Benezia turned around, the same angry expression as before, before biotic energy surrounded her.

"Die!" she yelled at us, before lifting her arms for a biotic attack.

Just before she attacked, I quickly aimed my pistol and shot precisely in her chest before she could put up her barriers.

She stood, motionless, before crumpling onto the floor, barely breathing. She dragged herself to the side where she leaned on the wall.

I could tell by her expression that this was the normal Benezia.

"I cannot go on, Shepard. You will have to stop him," she told me.

"Hold on! We've got medi-gel, maybe we can-" Benezia silenced me by lifting her hand into the air, signaling 'stop'

"He is still in my mind. I'm not entirely myself and I never will be again" she managed to, say before taking a quick gasp, pressing her hand to her stomach.

"Mother…" Liara whispered, crouching next to her.

"Goodnight, Little Wing. I will see you again…with the dawn" Benezia said, pressing her hand to Liara's cheek before slowly dropping it as she began to slouch more and more.

"No light…they always said there'd be a..." she couldn't finish as she flopped onto the floor; sliding off the wall she was leaning onto for support.

Liara stayed crouched next to her mother as me and Wrex stood in silence. We looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say but having the decency to let her mourn in peace, knowing the time won't be long enough before we have to leave.

After a few minutes of deafening silence, I slowly crouched beside Liara and laid a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Liara…it's time to go," I told her sadly.

She stayed there silent. I knew she didn't want to leave her mother.

"I'll make sure she receives a proper burial, Liara. I swear it," I promised her, knowing it was the least I could for her since I was the one who took the fatal shot. Damnit, where's Jane when you need her?

"We might not want to go just yet," Wrex said behind me. I turned to face him to see he was looking at the tank I've ignored completely.

'I guess it's time to see what's ins-' my eyes widened in shock as I turned towards the tank.

As if hypnotized, I stood up and walked towards what was once thought of as extinct from the galaxy.

A living, breathing Rachni Queen.

I knew in the records of the rachni wars, it said the queens were big but that's a massive understatement to the real thing.

Not knowing what to say, I went with the first thing that popped into my head.

"Wow…" I whispered as I heard Liara stand up from behind me.

"I'm going to patrol the perimeter," she whispered behind me. I turned to see Liara walk off, pistol in and, with Wrex right behind her.

I looked sadly towards Liara before turning my attention back to the queen. If only she could talk, I've got so many questions!

I heard a noise behind me but brushed it off, thinking it was either Wrex or Liara on patrol.

Examining her more closely, laying a hand on the glass as the noise got closer. Leaning closer to the glass, I think she noticed me.

Suddenly, her mouth opened towards me, pressing against the glass, as I jumped 10 feet in the air before hitting something soft behind me. I quickly turned to see it was one of the commandos.

Adrenaline fueled, I pulled my pistol out ready, switching my targets between the queen and the commando.

I slowly walked away from both of them as I saw Liara and Wrex return to my side, weapons out as well.

The commando walked as if dragging herself towards the queen before turning 'round to face us, eyes blank from emotion.

"This one. Serves as our voice" she said. What the…

I slowly began to lower my gun in shock.

"We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless"

Are musics are…what the hell?

I lowered my gun completely as my brain worked itself overtime trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

Deciding to voice my confusion, I began to try talking to the…whatever.

"Musics? What?" I tried to talk but I was just too confused and a little bit scared.

"Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not color the air. When we speak, one moves all.

"Can't we kill it yet?" Wrex asked but I chose to ignore him, thinking this conversation might become useful for some reason.

"We are the mother: We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced.

Silenced…wait…is she…what?!

"We are rachni" she finished, as if to confirm what I already knew.

My brain literally exploded as I began to realize what was happening. It seems the queen can talk through our bodies like what she's doing with the asari…I don't know if I should be in awe or scared shitless.

I walked towards the rachni tank; the talking dead asari was starting to freak me out.

"How are you speaking through her?" I asked her the No.1 question on my list at the moment.

"Our kind sings through touches of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging," she explained.

"She has colors we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful," she continued.

"The children we birthed were stolen from us before they could learn to sing. They are lost to silence" she continued to explain.

"End their suffering. They cannot be saved. They will only cause harm as they are" she finished. Before we continued, I asked my No.2 question on the list.

"The ones taken from you…they could lay eggs. How is that possible if you are the queen? I thought with insects of a hive mind, only the queen could lay eggs. Or am I wrong?" I questioned her.

"The children were taken. They didn't learn how to sing. They learned how to continue their silence without song," the queen explained.

"So you mean they adapted to life without a queen and learned how to lay eggs? That quickly?" I asked, shocked.

"When our children were being silenced. We learned to survive. We learned to sing a different tune" the queen finished.

I slowly began to understand what has happened as I continued my investigation.

"What I still don't understand is why are your children killing people" I told her.

"These needle-men. They stole our eggs from us. They sought to turn our children into beasts of war. Claws with no songs of their own" she began to explain.

"Our elders are comfortable with silence. Our children know only fear if no one sings to them. Fear has shattered their minds," she continued.

"Makes sense. A baby left alone in a closet until she's sixteen won't be sane" Liara added her input.

"Well…if you're sure they can't be saved," I told the queen.

"It is lamentable, but necessary. Do what you must" she told me. I suddenly felt very pitiful for the queen. It must be hard to call down the execution of her children. But like she said, we must.

'I wonder if the real Benezia felt this way when confronted against her daughter' I wondered before coming back to the queen.

"But before you deal with our children, we stand before you" she began.

"What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?" she questioned me.

"We've dealt with the rest of her kind, might as well finish her off. The tank is rigged with acid. That should do it" Wrex sounded happy at this, probably wanting to see what would happen.

"Lily, if you kill her, you consign an entire race to death. We should let the Council decide her fate" Liara spoke up.

'One for life, one for death: so much for my voting plan' I thought as the queen began to speak.

"Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory" She spoke to me.

'Well since I'm making the decision, might as well do a quick Q&A' I thought.

"If I let you go, would you attack other races again?" I questioned her.

"No. We…I do not know what happened in the war. We only heard discordance, songs the color of oily shadows," she answered.

"We would seek a hidden place to teach our children in harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return" she continued.

"So, wait a minute, are you a survivor of the war? A clone?" I continued to question the queen.

"We do not know. We were only an egg, hearing mother cry in our dreams" she replied.

"A tone from space hushed one voice after another. It forced the singers to resonate with its own sour yellow tone," she continued.

"Then we awoke, in this place. The last echo of those who came out of the singing planet: the sky is silent" she finished.

'Right. I think that's enough Q&A' I thought as I stared at the mother whose children were taken from her soft voice. Her life is mine for now.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Don't make me regret this, Rachni," I told her, lowering my hand.

"You're free to go," I told her, showing a small smile to her.

"Why bother releasing her? They seemed happy enough when they were trying to kill us" Wrex said behind me.

"Are we any better if we kill them all?" I asked Wrex. He hmphed behind me, obviously not happy with the decision I've made.

"If they start another war, don't come crying to us," Wrex replied.

"You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children" the queen thanked me. I nodded before heading towards the panel.

Pressing a few buttons, the tank slowly began to lift as she released her hold on the asari as the body dropped onto the floor.

When the tank stopped, the queen took on more look at me. I nodded in confirmation, smiling brightly at the queen as she left through the now opened gate on the side of the tank.

After she had left, I turned back to face the group.

"Alright, time to get Jane and kill the rest of the rachni on the station" I told them as we made our way out of the room and through the door leading to the trams, revealing an elevator.

Entering the elevator, the doors closed and lifted us back up to the entrance to the station.

Heading towards the elevator, which led back down the Captain Ventralis, I immediately noticed that it was locked.

'Hmm, that's a bit odd' I thought as I easily unlocked the elevator as we all entered, the doors soon closed, leading us back down into the station.

"Something doesn't feel right…be ready" I ordered, drawing my pistol just in case it was nothing.

Suddenly, the doors opened to an onslaught of bullets.

I yelped as we used the elevator edges as cover, which was barely enough to block the bullets.

"Follow the orders from the Matriarch! Kill them!"

I really hate it when I'm right


	18. The 'VI'

"Follow the orders from the Matriarch! Kill them!" Ventralis's voice rang around the elevator, as I had to press myself into the sidewall of the elevator to avoid the barrage of ammo.

I took quick peeks around the edges of the elevator and saw a makeshift cover point close to the elevator but I'd be shot down if I tried to run it.

"Liara! We need a kinetic barrier!" I told her, pointing in the direction of the cover point. Liara nodded as she quickly set up a large kinetic wall in front of the elevator; leaving enough room to maneuver around it and to cover.

I quickly spun around the elevator corner as I slide behind the cover point just before the kinetic barrier was destroyed.

My plan attracted the attention to my location, leaving just enough time for Liara and Wrex to get behind another cover point. I didn't need to explain how the elevator isn't a good place to hide behind in a gunfight, especially a small one like that.

Noticing the others, Liara had attracted the attention away from me and onto their spot.

'Okay, let's try Plan A' I thought as I began shooting from cover at the soldiers, effectively grabbing their attention again. While distracted, I motioned Wrex to charge the group from behind. He nodded happily as he was suddenly surrounded by biotic energy and attacked the group head on, knocking them to the ground.

Liara and I stood up from our cover and began shooting at the downed soldiers while Wrex just shoot their and pressed his foot on their heads until the sickening sound of a 'crack' or 'crunch' was heard.

"Did you have to do that, Wrex?" I said, wincing as I walked around the bodies.

"They're dead, aren't they?" Wrex shrugged.

"Yes, but-" Sounds of gunfire in the distance cut me off.

"Must not be the only ones they're trying to kill" Wrex mumbled. I stood there silent before suddenly the reality hit me like a ton of bricks.

"We forgot about Jane!" I yelled out, catching Liara and Wrex off guard.

Without giving them time to realize what was going on, I ran through the open door, leading me through more corridors and heading towards the main room where the shots were getting louder and louder.

I could hear the others catching up behind me; I was only a few feet away from the door leading to the room before…

I stopped as the others caught up with me. I stood for a few more seconds before Liara questioned me.

"What are you doing?" Liara asked, worried and sounding a little bit panicked.

"The guns have stopped," I said bluntly, holding my rifle protectively.

"Keep your guard up. I don't like this" I said as I ordered Liara and Wrex to stand at the sides of the door while I took point, aiming my rifle at the door as Liara opened it.

The sight of the room surprised and confused me to no end.

In the center of the room stood Jane looking slightly better but weaponless and frozen to the spot, wide-eyed; Shiva hovering above Jane's head, looking unharmed while surrounded by corpses of the soldiers who were guarding the place and survivors shaking at the side, scared shitless.

I didn't know whether to burst out laughing or stand in horror.

Wrex scanned the area for more soldiers while Liara and I went to investigate Jane and Shiva.

"Jane. Are you alright?" I questioned her worriedly as she slowly looked up at Shiva.

Following her gaze, I watched Shiva float down from above us and next to me.

"I protected her when the guards came to kill her. The doctor was killed in the process but the patients survived" Shiva reported.

"Wait, how did you protect her?" I asked Shiva.

"I have a built-in weapons system designed for small-scale fights" she replied.

"No, I mean why did you protect her? I thought VIs had to be told to do something before they did it, but you seemed to do it out of free will…" I looked at Shiva, waiting for her to reply.

Silence.

"In fact, I don't even remember asking you to stay with Jane while she was in the med-bay" I added, gazing at her in slow realization of her free will.

All I got was continued silence from the floating ball before Wrex interrupted.

"We're wasting time. I say we deal with the bugs and leave," Wrex said, obviously getting bored.

"You're right. We should get moving" Jane added, getting out of her state of shock. Seeing her discomfort, I handed her my rifle while took out my pistol.

"Thanks" she smiled gratefully.

I nodded before taking another look at Shiva. She remained silent but continued to float around her.

I noticed movement and turned to see the civilians still shaking at the side of the room.

"Wait" I told the others before turning to face them.

"What?" Jane questioned.

"We can't just leave them here. They're defenseless," I told them.

"We don't have time to play the guardian, Lily" Jane replied.

"I'm not going to abandon them, Jane," I told her forcefully.

"That's an order, Lily. Come on" Jane said now getting agitated. The others stood to the side, silently, obviously not wanting to get involved.

"They'll die if we just leave them here" I told her.

"We'll tell someone at the port to send someone over to help them" Jane replied.

"They could be dead by then" I argued, not giving up on them.

"Look, we're about to deal with the rachni problem, if you haven't noticed" Jane said in an impatient tone.

"There will always be stragglers, Jane, and what if they're attacked before we deal with the problem? What if can't even deal with the problem, Jane?" I questioned her.

She sighed, seeming to have had enough of this never-ending argument.

"Alright, fine. If it makes you happy, stay with them until we deal with the rachni problem. Then we'll come back and we'll leave, okay?" Jane compromised.

"How about I round up the survivors and take them to the tram. That way if the rachni attack, they can hide in the tram?" I changed the compromise.

She sighed again, obviously just wanting to deal with the problem and leave ASAP.

"Alright, fine" Jane said before turning to Liara.

"Liara, stay with Lily and help protect the survivors" She ordered Liara who nodded at the command.

"Yes, Shepard" Liara said before standing next to me.

Jane nodded at this arrangement one more time before leaving with Wrex to deal with the problem.

I turned to Liara.

"Liara stay with these people and see if you can calm them down. They look pretty shaken," I said as I worriedly looking at the people.

"Alright, but where are you going?" Liara questioned me as I heading to the door at the far side of the room.

"I'm going to gathered the survivors from downstairs and bring them up here" I told her before heading past the now-opened door.

It took a few minutes but eventually I managed to convince them to come with me back to the main room where the other survivors were beginning to relax.

After me and Liara had collected the two scientist patients from the med-bay, we managed to hoard everyone to the tramway waiting room where everyone began to get comfortable and chat to the others.

They seemed a lot calmer with the thought of returning home in their minds.

Liara and I kept our weapons out while I asked Shiva to patrol around the trams incase of a surprise attack.

We remained that way for around ten minutes before a loud bang below us was heard, followed by the ground shaking beneath us.

'What the hell?' I questioned mentally as silence surrounded the trams.

"Everyone, get onto the tram" I ordered as they quickly boarded the tram. I stood by the panel just in case I needed to send them away.

Suddenly, the door opened as me and Liara aimed at the doorway.

"It' safe" Jane called as Wrex and her walked through the door, joining us by the tram. I sighed in relief as we put away our weapons.

"Glad to see you're alright" I told her.

"You too" she replied. Awkward silence followed as Wrex, sensing tension, interrupted it. Again.

"Can we leave now?" Wrex asked as he entered the tram. It was like he had a force field since every step he took forward, the people took one step away.

"Well then, ready?" I asked them. They nodded in unison as we entered the tramway.

"Select your destination" the panel's VI sounded.

"Wait, I thought it only went one way" I said confused.

"It seems there's a tram leading back to the port," Jane said, examining the panel.

"You mean we could have just taken the tram instead of getting a garage pass to use the Mako, nearly leading us to our death because of ice, geth and Liara's stunt with the colossus?" I questioned her.

"Yep" Jane said, a line of annoyance forming on her forehead.

I remained silent as the tram began its journey to the port.

Fast-travel onto the Normandy

Everyone was sitting in his or her designated seats in the debriefing room while Ashley began to speak.

"What's our next move, commander? Head for the Mu Relay?" Ashley spoke up.

"The Mu Relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren is going, we'd just be wasting our time" Jane said, leaning against the FTL comm panel.

"The commander is right. We cannot rush off blind. We still need to learn more about Saren" Liara added.

"Who put you in charge? Did the commander resign when I wasn't looking?" Ashley asked, crossing her legs. Liara looked a bit taken back by her statement but Jane wasn't.

"I'm not a puppet for the asari! I give the orders around here. Understood?" Jane glared at Ashley. Ashley silenced quickly as Liara looked unfazed and replied quickly.

"Forgive me, Commander. I was only trying to help" Liara apologized. Jane sighed before replying in a calmer tone.

"This is a tough mission. We're all on edge. Everyone go get some rest…crew dismissed" Jane ordered as everyone began to leave.

"Not you though" Jane said to me. I nodded as everyone left.

"I need you to report to the Council since through most of the mission, you were leading the team through Noveria while I stayed in the med-bay" Jane explained.

"All right, sis" I nodded, understanding as Jane left the room.

"Ready to patch to the Council, Lily?" Joker asked me.

"Patch them through, Joker," I replied as I began to brace myself for the lecture.

Suddenly, three holograms of the council appeared before me.

"Is this report…oh, Lieutenant Shepard" the asari councilor began.

"Where's the commander?" the salarian questioned.

"She felt it best if I was the one to report to you about the mission since the Commander was indisposed through most of it" I explained.

"Very well, then" the salarian nodded in acceptance as the asari began to speak.

"As I was saying, is this report accurate in saying that you found rachni on Noveria?" she asked.

"And then released the queen! Do you have any idea what you've done? How many generations until they overrun the galaxy?" the turian said angrily, obviously disliking the turn of events. I guess it's time for my futile attempt at defending myself.

"This queen is different. She understands why her kind had to be wiped out last time around" I tried explaining. The turian didn't look convinced but eventually nodded in acceptance, knowing any argument would be useless since, as they say, 'what's done is done'

"I hope you're right, Shepard. Our children's children will pay the price if you're not" he finished, sending shivers down my spine at the dark tone he used

"We'll be waiting for your next report," the asari said as the hologram councilors dissipated.

"Well that was cheerful," a voice sounded behind me as I turned to see a much friendlier turian and one, which I actually liked.

"Nice to see you spying on me, Garrus" I smiled at him as I began to walk towards him.

"So how much of the lecture did you here?" I asked him.

"Only caught the last bit. He's not very optimistic, is he?" Garrus asked.

"Well he's not exactly a shining example for your people" I told him, making him chuckle.

"And I suppose Udina isn't the best one for humans either" he added. I faked a choke.

"Please don't remind me of him, I just ate," I pleaded, making him smile or what I thought was a smile, anyway.

"So, did you need something or is this a friendly visit?" I asked him.

"Both. Figured you'd want to join me for a drink by the observation deck" he said, lifting a bottle of Ryncol.

"You know how to bring a smile to my face, Vakarian" I grinned, following him as he led me into the mess hall elevator and down to the observation deck.

I smiled happily as we walked towards a sofa facing the window into space. I was able to see the slowly disappearing planet Noveria in the distance.

"I love it down here" I smiled as I accepted a glass from Garrus as he filled it with Ryncol.

"Found this place a few days ago while exploring the ship. I don't think many people know about this place," he said as he sat down beside me with his own glass.

"They don't. I've worked on this ship long enough to know that. I sometimes come down here to clear my head or to avoid everyone on the ship," I told him before I took a sip of the drink.

The strength of the drink knocked me back a bit but I soon got used to the taste.

"So is this your secret place or something like that?" Garrus asked, drinking his drink.

"I guess you could call it that. I guess you can say you're the only other person who knows about it," I told him.

"Well aren't I special?" he joked; I chuckled as I put down the glass on the table.

I sighed happily as I looked out into space.

"Do you remember when we first met? Back on Earth?" Garrus asked me.

"How could I forget? That was probably, without a doubt, one of the best months of my life," I told him.

"Yea. I'm actually surprised we became friends after it" he added as I looked at him.

"Really?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Well I don't usually make friends with people who point guns at my head" he joked.

"Well at least I didn't shoot" I defended myself.

"Yeah, good point" he said.

I sighed as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad we met that day, or I'd probably still be there…" I reminisced back to my days back on Earth, where Jane and me were involved in a gang. The pay was nice and there were bonuses to the job but I eventually realized how wrong it was, thanks to Garrus.

"You did the right thing in the end, Lily. Remember that," Garrus said as we wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"But no matter what I do, Garrus, it doesn't seem to be enough" I said as I stood in front of the window, feeling his arm slide off me and down my back.

"I killed those people, Garrus…I murdered so many innocents…. I try to redeem myself, but…it never seems enough" I told him as I enter my memories and travelled back to my days on Earth; where Garrus and I were on two opposite sides of the law.


	19. The Turian Asshole

I sat there quietly as I smoked my cigarette on the park bench in downtown London.

Tall trees shaded me while long grass brushed against my legs as I watched passing children play on the playground in front of the bench.

'Wait until they get older…' I thought pessimistically, before taking another smoke.

I could feel it fill my lungs before being released into the air in a small, grey puff.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and relaxed more into the bench before I heard noises coming from my left. I turned to see a small group of turians heading in my direction.

Two of them looked relatively normal but the third one caught my eye the most. Mainly because of the thick blue armour he wore.

'Probably a mercenary' I thought as I returned to my peaceful meditation of breathing in the cancerous smoke. I knew it was bad for me and I didn't even like it, but it was one of only two things that calmed my nerves, the other one being booze.

The noise was beginning to die down as I turned to see the other two turians leave, leaving the armoured one behind.

He began to turn around before he noticed me staring. He started heading towards me as I turned away from him, hoping he was just heading in my direction.

"Aren't you a little young to smoke?" a voice said behind me.

Damn.

"Depends, how old do you think I am?" I replied, closing my eyes and leaning back again.

"Not old enough" he replied quickly.

"Is there something you want, turian?" I asked him, eyes still closed, just wanting him to leave me alone.

"Depends, what do you think I want?" he replied, using the same tone I used before.

"Sorry, I not the type of girl who gives freebies" I replied coolly as I continued to puff on my cigarette.

"Then are you the type who gives information?" he asked, sitting next to me.

'I'm guessing he's not a merc...' I thought as I opened my eyes and eyed him next to me.

Nothing seemed special about him except for the armour.

"What do you want?" I asked him

"For you to answer some questions" he replied, leaning into the bench.

"Are you a cop?" I asked him, trying to figure out what he wanted.

"You could say that" he answered. He tried to ask a question but I cut him off quickly.

"Look, you're obviously not from around her but you cops don't ask people questions on the street. You never know who's listening," I warned him, figuring he'd take the hint and leave.

"I can protect you," he told me. He doesn't know when to quit.

"I wouldn't be the one needing protection," I told him as I sat up from the bench and began to walk off, dropping the cigarette and crushing it under my foot.

I managed to walk a few paces before feeling my arms be pulled back behind my back and a cold metal wrap around my wrists.

"What the hell!" I yelled as I turned to see the turian standing there.

"You're under arrest for smoking under the age limit and, judging by this receipt," he said before pulling the receipt from my jacket pocket.

"Buying cigarettes and tobacco under the age limit" he finished, replacing the ticket in my pocket.

"But I am of age, dumbass. I'm 17!" I yelled at him.

"You have the right to remain silent" he smirked

"You don't know when to give up turian" I glared at the self-righteous jackass.

"It's Garrus, okay miss? If you're gong to yell at me, you might as well use my name," the turian, 'Garrus', told me as he began to pull me away to a hover car close by.

The car looked like a regular hover cop car except for the C-Sec symbol on the front.

'C-Sec? What's he doing on Earth?' I thought confused as he opened the door in the back seat and lowered me inside.

I remained silent as he sat in the front seat and began to start the car.

Remaining silent for a few minutes, I saw him look up into the rearview mirror.

"I wish all my arrests were as quiet as this" he joked, snapping me back into reality.

"Why are you here if you work at C-Sec?" I questioned him as he continued to drive.

"You want the official story or the real one?" he asked.

"Both" I said as I relaxed in the back seat.

"Really, I'm supposed to be on my break, figured I'd come to Earth and me up with a few friends who used to work at C-Sec" he started.

"Officially, though, when they realized I was heading to Earth, they withdrew my time off and tasked me with apprehending a criminal working on Earth who managed to pull a coup at the Citadel" he finished. Interested, I leaned forward, resting my arms on the seat headrest in front of me.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"Sorry, confidential, Miss…" He replied. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt…

"It's Lily," I told him as I returned to my relaxed position on the back seat.

"Nice name" he complimented.

"Thanks" I waved off his compliment as I stared out the window.

I could see the outline of the police station grow larger and larger as Garrus drove past it and into the car park.

He stopped the car and got outside, shutting the door behind him.

Walking around the car, he opened the door in a way a butler would for his master.

"My lady" he said as I got out the car.

"Asshole" I rolled my eyes as he chuckled, shutting the door and locking the car.

"Isn't there a rule about being friendly to criminals?" I asked as we walked out of the car park and up the stairs towards the main doors.

"I didn't realize arresting someone was friendly" he retorted as he opened to doors, revealing a bustling police station.

He guided me through the havoc as he led me to a side room where, opening the door, revealed to be an interrogation room.

'He obviously brought me here for more than the 'smoking offense' ' I thought as he said me down on the chair on the other side of the room, unlocking the handcuffs as he walked to the other side of the table in-between us.

"I figure you've guessed that you're here for more than smoking," he said.

"Since I've committed no crime because I am the legal age, yes" I replied, stretching my legs under the table.

"I brought you here to answer a few questions," he explained.

"I thought I told you-" I began but he cut me off.

"That cops don't question people on the streets" He finished, motioning to the room we're in.

I looked around before realizing what he meant.

"You only brought me here so I could answer those questions" I stated, shaking my head at him. He's definitely forceful this this kind of thing.

"Smart girl" he said, nodding in confirmation.

I stared at him for a few more moments before replying.

"Alright, Garrus. Talk" I said, figuring he wouldn't let me leave without giving him some answers.

"Do you know a man named Jason Trent?" he questioned me.

'Okay, Lily, only give info that you'd find on a police record, don't give anything new' I thought.

You see, Jason Trent is the leader of a small-time gang, which my sister, Jane, and me are involved with. We supply illegal weapons and prototypes to 'interested buyers' in exchange for useful items, including fake IDs, passports and any info on valuable shipments we'd be interested in. Excluding those, we always get a nice stash of money on the side, as a 'good job' from the client.

"Well?" Garrus pushed the question as I formed my reply in my head.

"I know he's one of the most influential criminal gang lords involved with illegal weapon and prototype shipments in England" I replied. He nodded, obviously hearing this info before.

"What else does he do?" he questioned.

"Small-time drug trafficking" I replied.

He nodded. I didn't like where this was heading so I cut in.

"Don't you know this already? Isn't in in your files or something?" I questioned him.

"Only the basics but there's a lot about you," he said, smiling. I stared at him, emotionless, waiting for him to continue.

"A little interesting fact I found about you is confirmed with eye witness sightings showing you with Jason and the gang" he explained, showing me a photo of me and the gang in the middle of a deal.

"Damn, who snitched on us?" I asked, annoyed and a slightly worried at this outcome.

"Does it matter?" he said, putting the photo away as he sat down on the chair opposite me.

"Since we need each other, how's about we make a deal?" he offered. I scoffed at the idea.

"What makes you think I need you?" I asked him.

"Because of the crimes we have issued against your group, that photo could be the reason you spend 10 years in jail" he told me, making me go silent.

"But if you agree to the deal, the photo will 'disappear' " he told me. Okay, now I know he's lying. Cops don't make their evidence 'disappear'. Especially for someone like me.

"Forget it. I'm not falling for this trick" I crossed my arms.

"Look, I've got no quarrel with you. In fact, you probably the only way I can arrest this guy. So help me here, and I won't need the evidence anymore" He explained.

"But I thought you were arresting the gang?" I questioned him.

"No, just Jason. Once he's taken, the gang can disperse," he replied.

"But won't the cops want them arrested?" I continued.

"Not my problem" he finished. I considered the offer for a few moments, not knowing what to say.

"I'll think about it"

…

"Hey" Garrus said behind me, laying a hand on my shoulder, shaking me from my memory.

"Oh" I said, shaking my head before turning to face him.

"You spaced out on me for a sec" he told me, lowering his hand back to his side.

"Sorry, my mind was in the clouds" I explained, taking a seat back on the couch; Garrus soon followed, taking the space next to me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked. I looked at my drink before picking it up and downing the whole glass in one go.

"I was remembering when we first met," I told him, smiling faintly at him as I placed the empty glass back onto the table. Suddenly, I felt a slight dizziness in the back of my mind. I shook it off and blamed the Ryncol. I can always hold my drink unless it's Ryncol, then I just pass out.

"And how far did you get?" He continued to question me.

"Up 'till the point where you wanted me to rat out on Jason" I answered.

"I remember…if only I looked at your hand under the table. I might have noticed that your fingers were crossed," he told me, smiling, as he laid his arm behind my head.

"Well, I had a reason and you know it" I defended my actions.

"How was I supposed to know you were dating the guy?" he retorted. The dizziness was starting to get more noticeable. I haven't drunk that much, have I?

"Well, technically, we weren't dating. At least, he didn't think we were" I slowly felt my head lower back onto his shoulder as he lowered the arm on the couch around my back, resting his hand on my waist while his free hand picked up his glass and finished the drink before putting the drink back down.

"Hmm, pity" he mumbled, catching my attention as he shifted into a more comfortable position. I lifted my head from his shoulder, looking up at him. I instantly realized the closeness of our faces.

"Well…for a human…you're really…something," he said slowly, probably noticing the same thing I have.

I don't know whether it was because of the drink or whatever I was thinking of…but I felt myself slowly close the gap between us. It might have been just me but I could've sworn Garrus was…replying.

Suddenly, as the gap was nearly closed, my eyes half-closed, a loud noise to the right of us made me jump, making me head-butt Garrus.

I fell backwards on the sofa, rubbing my head as the dizziness grew even more.

I groaned loudly in pain.

"Lily? Garrus?" I looked above the sofa to see Kaidan standing by the elevator. I managed to stand up from the sofa and walked around, heading towards Kaidan.

"Kaidan, what are you…" I was about to ask him what was he doing down here but the dizziness made me collapse, trying to collect my thoughts.

"Lily!" Kaidan said catching me before I hit the ground. I felt another pair of arms on me, which I could only guess was Garrus's as they helped support me. I had no idea if they were saying or what they were doing; I only knew that I was losing consciousness. After a few more seconds, my body fell limp as I fainted. Only one thought ran through my mind:

I've gotta lay off the booze.

**Fast-forwarding **

I whimpered as I slowly lifted my body up, before dropping back onto the bed, moaning in pain as I held my head.

"The consequences of drinking" I mumbled, sighing, as I rubbed my head. The pain of the hangover assaulted my brain.

I tried sitting up again, leaning on my elbows, still keeping my hand on my head. I felt something soft under my hand, immediately realizing it was a medi-gel pad.

'Medi-gel pad…I thought you only used them for bruises…how did I-" I groaned in annoyance, remembering the head-butt.

'Goddamn Kaidan. Goddamn turian' I thought, mentally hitting them both for injuring me.

"Good morning" a voice chirped behind me. I turned to see Doc sitting by her computer.

"Nice to see you, Doc" I said, slowly lifting myself up again.

"Hmm" she replied, standing up and walking towards me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, handing me a few painkillers.

"What do you think?" I replied, before taking the pills.

"Considering the large bruise forming on your forehead, I doubt you're very cheerful this morning" she joked smiling lightly. I groaned again, remembering that moment. She smiled sympathetically before becoming more serious.

"Feel anything unusual?" she continued.

"Not really, why?" I asked her. She sighed, before standing in front of me, leaning on the bed behind her.

"It's happened again. The tests say you're perfectly healthy but you still managed to faint" the Doc explained.

"Wait, what'd you mean, Doc? I was drinking remember. I probably passed out. You know I can't hold down Ryncol," I told her.

"According to the results, you only took one unit of alcohol, not enough to pass out. Especially since I've seen how well you hold your drinks, Lieutenant" she continued to explain.

I slowly swung my legs to the side of the bed, resting my elbow on my leg while pressing my head with my hand.

"What's doing this, Doc?" I asked her.

"I honestly don't know" she said, sounding slightly worried.

"Maybe you should stay behind for a few missions…I don't know what else to suggest" the Doc said while Jane walked in.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty" she joked lightly before becoming serious as she turned to the Doc.

"Is she going to be okay?" she asked her.

"She seems to be alright, but I'd be careful when taking her on missions. As unprofessional as it sounds, these black-outs seem to be random" the Doc explained.

"Thanks, Doc" Jane said before turning to me.

"So, what's the plan, sis?" I questioned her.

"Well…" she thought for a moment before replying.

"I've got some things to do on the Citadel. I think it's time for a break" she replied before handing me the virtual atlas we used while in London.

"If you need to find me, just searched the maps in the files. I'll be in there somewhere," she said as she began to walk out of the room before standing to a holt and turning to face me.

"I also want you to have a talk with the crew while we're at the Citadel. It's a dangerous mission we're on and I need people with a clear head on my side, especially since I trust them to help protect the millions of lives in the galaxy, including ours. They'll probably be wondering the Citadel when we arrive so use the atlas if you can't find them" she tasked me before walking out, the med-door swiftly closing behind her.

"Do you feel able to stand?" the Doc asked as she turned away from where Jane was to face me.

I slowly pushed myself off the bed as I used the edge for support. I took a few wobbly steps before getting my footing.

"I'm a bit stiff but I'm able" I told her.

"Maybe you should occupy yourself for the meantime. Try and stay off your feet for awhile, if you can" the Doc advised me. I nodded, thanking her for her help, before leaving the med-bay.

I could see Kaidan standing by his station but I completely avoided him, heading straight to the stairs leading to the cockpit.

'I'm still annoyed at him interrupting…interrupting…what did he interrupt anyway?' my thoughts were too scrambled to make sense of so I just dropped it for the moment and focused on heading to the cockpit and towards Joker.

"So how's life for ya, Joker?" I asked as I took a seat next to him.

"Good for now, though not as dramatic as yours" he grinned before looking around me.

"What?" I asked as he returned his eyes to the control panel.

"Shiva's not with you. I was expecting the full treatment" he replied shrugging.

"Oh, Shiva. I sent her with Tali to check her programming. She was acting…odd on Noveria" I tried explaining, remembering the VIs independent actions, which put simply, shouldn't happen.

I looked at Joker again to see his eyes focus in my forehead.

"Should I ask?" he joked, looking back at the panel.

"Probably not" I replied, blushing lightly, catching his eye.

"Oh, this I have to know" He said.

I sighed before asking him again.

"Do I have to?" I asked meekly.

"Definitely" he said curtly.

I sighed again, really not wanting to but it is Joker. He's the kind of guy that never lets things go but doesn't judge what people have to say…but he might laugh his ass off.

"Okay" I said, turning to face him while he put the ship on autopilot before taking a sip of his coffee.

"I nearly kissed Garrus"

His reaction shortly after was choking on coffee.


	20. The Beginning of Recon

"WHAT?!" He chocked, setting down his coffee before he spilt it.

"Um…" I hesitated. Something told me that repeating it wouldn't help the situation.

"You nearly-" I silenced him before he could yell it to the rest of the crew. They gave us a mix of curious and worried looks before returning to work.

"I'd prefer it if the rest of the crew _didn't _hear about this" I glared. His eyes returned to my head, even more curious if that was possible.

"So how'd you get that?" he asked, nodding at my forehead.

I lowered my head before replying.

"Well, Kaidan walked in on us and he made me jump…so I head-butted Garrus" I winced as I finished, remembering the pain in my head and the unavoidable reaction I'd get from him.

He remained silent before slowly, and inevitably, he started to laugh.

"You…" he started to laugh more, making my face flare up as I shot him a glare.

"It's not funny," I told him but I doubt he heard me over the laughter.

"You-You tried to kiss him, and…" he continued to laugh as my cheeks flared even more. I quickly stood from the chair and began to walk away from the cockpit.

"No-No wait…come back" he couldn't finish his sentence as he laughed. He eventually calmed down as I felt him take control of the ship again, hearing the occasional chuckle from his direction.

'Why did I tell him again?' I thought, annoyed at myself, Joker, Kaidan…I think Garrus is the only one I'm not really annoyed with but I can't even face him after what happened last night.

Shaking my thoughts away, I decided the first thing I should do is check up on Tali and Shiva. I missed the floated heap of electronics, especially since she might've distracted Joker from my…accident.

Heading in the mess hall and into the elevator, I rode it down to the cargo hold. I immediately turned around the corner, ignoring the rest of the crew before they had a chance to ask about the injury.

I entered the engineering room where the element zero drive core lit the entire room, pulsing with energy. I headed straight towards Tali to see her examining Shiva on a side table surrounded with different tools.

"Have you found anything?" I asked her, walking up next to her.

"Hmm…not really. Her programming looks normal and her hardware hasn't taken any damage so she did it out of free thought"

"So what does that mean, exactly?" I asked her.

"It means she is capable of independence" she replied.

That made me freeze.

"Tali, are you saying she's an AI?" I asked her, worried.

"No…well, not completely. She's sill bound by her programming to follow your orders without the will to disobey, but it seems she can also make her own choices" Tali tried to explain. Shiva chose then to voice her opinion.

"You have nothing to worry about, Lily. I will still follow your orders but I will commit actions I believe will benefit the mission and the crew" she defended herself.

"That not what I was worried about, but thank you, Shiva" I told her before explaining my worries.

"If anyone figures out she is an AI, she'll be destroyed on sight, not to mention getting suspicion from the entire galaxy. I mean, your people had the help of 'loyal' AIs, but after you lost your home world to them, you got hate and suspicion from every single race in the entire galaxy, including the Council. It's where the ban of AIs came from in the first place," I explained.

"Yes, but I assure you she's different. She's not an AI, not completely, but she has more free will than a usual VI. I guess you can say she's a shackled AI, but trust me, me and my people wouldn't make the same mistake twice, Lily…Shiva is safe" she said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed before closing the hatch, which hid her wires and electronic software.

"Are you ready Shiva?" I asked her as she began to fly into the air.

"Ready as always, Lily" She said, taking her usual place by my head.

I smiled at her before looking back at Tali to see her looking at my headband.

"Don't ask" I shook my head. I could tell she was curious but left the subject alone.

"Alright, well…see you later, Lily" She said before heading towards one of the engineering panels.

Turning, I headed back towards the elevator to see Garrus looking at me.

'Well I can't ignore him now, can I' I thought before heading towards him.

"Um…Hi, Garrus" I smiled awkwardly as he looked up at the headband.

"Yeah, um…hi" he said, looking down at my face as I began to blush.

We stood awkwardly for a few moments before he coughed.

"Well, um…how's the head?" he asked, motioning at the headband.

"It's…okay. Thanks for asking" I replied.

More awkward silence.

"Well, um…*sigh* Listen, about last night-" Before he could continue, I quickly cut him off, wanting to get it out in the open and finish this awkwardness.

"It's okay, Garrus, we were drunk. I never did hold my Ryncol well" I joked lightly. I could tell he wanted to say something but I stopped him before it became even more awkward.

"It's okay, Garrus, let's…let's just forget about it" I told him, giving a small smile at the silent turian before lifting my hand. He looked down at it before giving it a weird look.

"I need to do some calibrations," He told me before turning around typing on the Normandy's weapon panel.

"Oh…ok" I said, surprised as I slowly lowered my hand.

"I'll…I'll see ya around" I said before beginning to walk backwards. He didn't reply and continued to type.

I slowly turned around and entered the elevator. Pressing a few buttons, the doors slowly shut as I looked to see Garrus looking back at me. Before the doors closed, he looked down before turning back to the panel.

I shook my head, confused, as the elevator began to rise.

"He is very dedicated at his job" Shiva commented next to me. I hummed in reply.

'What was that about?' I thought, curiously, as the elevator doors opened. Lost in thought, I began to walk out before walking straight into someone else. They grabbed me by the arms before I fell over.

"Hey!" I heard him yelp in surprise as I looked to see Kaidan look down at me.

"Sorry, Kaidan. I wasn't looking," I said sheepishly as I pulled away from him. I looked back at him to see him staring at my head, which annoyed me a bit.

"I still haven't forgiven you for this" I said, pointing at my forehead.

"What do you mean? I didn't do it" He defended himself, though a slight hint of guilt flashed across his face.

"If you hadn't of made me jump, this" I motioned to my forehead "Wouldn't of happened" I finished.

"Maybe, alright? Maybe, but what were you two doing, anyway?" He asked, brushing my headband.

"I don't know, we were drunk, Kaidan" I lied, well not _completely_. He scoffed.

"If you were that drunk, you wouldn't have remember I was there" he retorted. He had me there.

"Well…we were talking about our days on Earth" I began.

"And?" he asked. So impatient.

"And we were relaxing on the sofa when…we nearly kissed" I finished.

"What?" he said shocked, before shaking his head.

"You kissed?" He asked, stunned.

"Well we _nearly _did before you interrupted and caused this" I glared at him. He continued shaking his head as I continued to explain.

"We were drunk, Kaidan. It was spur of the moment," I told him.

"So he took advantage of you?" he asked before heading to the elevator. I pressed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back.

"No. _No one _took advantage of anyone, okay? We were drunk, remember?" I reasoned with him. It was obvious he wasn't giving up.

"Is there something going on between you two?" he asked randomly.

"Oh for the love of…Look. Nothing is going on" I glared at him.

He sighed before slowly pacing in front of me before stopping in the same position as before.

"I'm sorry, it's just…*sigh* listen, Lily…I-" he began before Joker cut him off.

"Reached the citadel, Commander. Docking now" Joker's voice said over the intercomm.

"Well, I think that's my cue to leave" I smiled quickly before walking off.

He remained silent as I walked up the stairs and towards Jane who was walking towards me.

"Hey, sis" I waved as she stood in front of me.

"Hey, do you remember the plan?" She questioned me. I nodded.

"Yea, I've got to do some recon while you're on your mission" I replied.

"And to find me, you-" she began.

"Use the atlas, I got it" I finished, smiling.

"Good. You do remember" she smiled, as she looked past me. I turned to see Liara and Ashley.

"Ready when you are, Commander" Ashley nodded at Jane. She nodded in reply as they began to walk off.

I watched them leave before turning to see Shiva floating next to me.

"Ready, Shiva?" I asked the floating VI…AI...whatever.

"Ready as always, Lily" she replied before showing a hologram of the crew.

"I've done some scans of our crew and there actions during our mission" she began before highlighting Ashley and Kaidan.

"Both of them have sworn loyalty to the Alliance and respectively to Commander Shepard due to her rank in the Military" She explained before highlighting Liara.

"Due to her relationship with the Commander and the rescue mission, it should have affected her loyalty to the mission and should prove a liable asset to our cause" she continued before removing all of them from the hologram completely, leaving Tali, Wrex and Garrus.

"You saved Tali from Saren's agent but doesn't necessarily commit her to the mission. As I remember, you owe Wrex a favor for his actions on Noveria so it could help in solidifying his loyalty to Jane. Your previous relationship with Garrus has helped earn his loyalty to us but not enough that he can be depended on" she finished before closing the hologram.

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

"It proves that he is loyal to you, but not to the rest of the crew. He needs another reason to commit to us" she replied.

"Alright then, so we need to study Garrus, Wrex and Tali " I nodded at her.

"Correct" she answered before 'turning' away from me.

"I detect an unknown entity boarding" she replied.

'"Hmm" I voiced as I turned to the airlock to see it open, revealing a familiar face.

"Oh, Rear Admiral Mickhailovich" I saluted him.

"Ah, Lieutenant Shepard. I see you still know which colour your blood is" he replied as I lowered my hand in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," I told him as I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Garrus walking up to us.

"Rear Admiral, this is Garrus Vakarian" I introduced. He glared at the turian before walking off.

"Why does everyone glare at me when they meet me?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Don't take it personally, he's…not a big fan of the other races" I tried to explain.

"You mean aliens?" he crossed his arms.

"Precisely" I agreed. We stood silently before he began to speak.

"Well, the Commander's told us we were allowed some shore leave before having to return to the ship so I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink" he said. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't think I'll be drinking for a while" I joked.

"I mean we didn't have a proper chance to talk last time, what with the** * cough *** interruption" he explained.

"Hmmm tell you what. I've got some things I need to do first but how 'bout I meet you for a drink at Flux?" I suggested.

"Sounds like a plan" he nodded before walking past me towards the airlock.

Shortly following was Mickhailovich leaving the Normandy in a calm manner, but I could see the anger boiling underneath it.

'I better see what's wrong' I thought before looking at Shiva.

"Come on, Shiva. We need to deal with the Rear Admiral before we begin doing recon" I told her before following him out of the Normandy.

"Ready as always, Lily" she replied.

'I hope he doesn't run into my sister' I thought hopefully as Shiva and I left the ship, ignoring Joker giggling in the cockpit. I got about hallway down the exit tunnel before I heard Mickhailovich's voice resonate in the chamber.

"Commander, I'm not happy" Damn.

"Somehow I'm not surprised" Jane's annoyed voice soon followed. I quickened my pace as I exited the tunnel to see the two chatting next to the ship while Liara and Ashley stood to the side.

"That mouth will get you into trouble" he warned her as she casually brushed it off.

"You come to me, order me to let you onto my ship and you expect me to stand here and listen to you insult it?" she asked him, sharply.

"I _expect _you to show respect to your superiors" he quickly retorted.

"Considering I now work for the Council, I think that makes me superior, don't you think?" she smirked cockily at him.

"How dare you-," He said angrily as I quickly put myself between the two.

"I apologize for my sister, Rear Admiral. She's…not in a good mood today" I explained, putting my hands up as I tried to calm him down.

He returned to a calmer image but I could see the storm was brewing.

"Expect a report soon enough, Commander. I can assure you it won't be pleasant," he said, calmly before walking past us and into the elevator.

I sighed before turning to face my sister.

"Can't you go one day without pissing someone off?" I asked, pleadingly as she shrugged before walking off. The others, not knowing what to say probably, just followed her as they entered the elevator. My sister and 'Mick' ignored each other completely as the elevator doors closed and lowered quickly into C-Sec Academy.

"Well that went better than expected" I turned to see Tali walking towards me. I smiled at the Quarian before nodding in agreement.

"Jane was never the one to listen to people's insults, no matter the person saying them" I explained as we walked to the elevator, waiting for it to come back.

"I can tell she has good intentions, even if she has a bad way of showing them," she said as they elevator rose before the doors opened.

"My father is exactly the same," she added as we walked inside the elevator.

"Your father?" I asked her, curious about her family.

"He has always done what was best for the fleet and it's people, and he raised me by teaching me everything I needed to know in life" she explained before lowering her head slightly.

"Yet I can never remember the last time he ever said he loved me. The best thing I can say about him is that I respect him," She said, looking up at me.

"Your sister shows her want to help the galaxy and its interests, but she ignores problems she believes are not worth her time" she continued.

"She a good person, she just needs a little help in showing it" she finished as I shook my head.

"Have you been studying her or something?" I joked. She gave a small chuckle.

"No, I just…notice things, now and then" she replied as the elevator stopped.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Tali" I smiled as I left the elevator.

"You too, Lil-Hey!" I heard her yelp behind me as I spun to see a turian C-Sec Officer holding her arm.

"Excuse me, miss? What's your name?" he asked her.

"Her name is Tali. Is there a problem, Officer?" I asked him as I walked towards them. Completely ignoring me, he continued.

"Miss, I need to search you and whatever belongings you are carrying" he explained.

"What? Why?" Tali asked as she pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"A Quarian was reported to have stolen a credit chit from a volus. I need to search your belongings," he explained.

"It couldn't have been Tali, we just came from the Docking Bay" I tried to reason with him.

"I'm sorry, no exceptions. If it wasn't you, you have nothing to worry about right?" he replied.

"But I haven't done-" Tali tried to defend herself before a rather portly volus walked towards us.

"Where's my chit?" he ordered Tali.

"I don't have your chit" She replied, agitated.

"Officer, aren't you going to search her?" he asked him as he grabbed her arm.

"I was just about to" he replied, feeling down her arm.

"She didn't steal your damn chit! Now let her go!" I yelled at them, gaining their attention.

"Says who?" the Officer said, staring me down. It shut me up for a few seconds as I quickly thought up a reply, even if it was a stupid one.

'I am soooo going to regret this' I moaned in my mind as I put on my most serious expression.

"Says Commander Shepard. I'm a Council spectre and I _suggest _you let her go" I glared at the Officer. He rolled his eyes.

"Right, and I'm an undercover Asari Matriarch, no really, I'm serious. I'd suggest not lying about your identity or I could throw you in for impersonating a soldier, and a Spectre at that" he replied coolly as he continue to search Tali.

Suddenly, a loud voice was heard behind me. I turned to see a familiar face. Khalisah, a well-known news reporter, was waving at me to come over.

"Commander Shepard, I was wondering if you can spare a few moments," she asked. I turned back to the Officer, looking smug.

"Oh, you were tellin…. I-err, I apologize for the…. interruption" he panicked, putting his hands up in defense.

I watched him as he soon realized he was in trouble.

"I should go" he replied as he began to walk off, muttering 'Son of a bitch' as he did so.

Hearing loud breathing below me, I looked down to see the volus watch the Officer's quick escape before slowly looking up at me.

"I should go," he said before walking off, no doubt following by example.

I turned back to see Tali walk towards me.

"I can't believe that worked" Shiva commented beside me.

"Thanks, Lily, I…thank you," she said, happily.

"No problem" I nodded, patting her shoulder before looking towards Khalisah.

"Now let's get on the news" I grinned at her as we walked to said reporter.

"Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani. Westerlund News. Would you answer a few questions for our viewers?" she asked politely, but I was still suspicious. One thing you should never do is be honest with reporters, it always ends up biting you in the ass.

"What would you like to know?" I replied, crossing my arms.

"You've been given a unique position to represent our race. People want to get a sense of how you'll do that," she explained before pressing a few buttons on her Omni-tool. Suddenly, a bright light was emitted from her flying camera as I was forced to resist the urge to shield my eyes from it.

"Humanity has been trying to get the respect of the galactic community for 26 years. With that in mind, what are your feelings on being the first human Spectre?" she asked.

'All right, Lily, you can do this' I reassured myself as I quickly prepared my answer, or Jane's answer…an answer.

"The Spectres represent the best of every species in the galaxy. To be asked to join them is an honor" I replied before smiling inwardly.

'Good answer' I praised myself.

"Some say your appointment is the Citadel 'throwing humans a bone'. Have you encounter any situations where the Citadel asked you to put its needs before of the needs of Earth?" she continued.

"The Council is concerned with the needs of the whole galactic community, we're part of that community now and our needs are on their agenda but we're one of many" I replied.

'Okay, going good so far' I reassured myself.

"You really do believe that, don't you?" she said. Wait was that a question?

I just nodded in response.

"You've been given command of an advanced human warship for your missions. Is there anything you'd like to say about it?" she questioned.

'Umm…it flies? No, wait, the turians!' I thought.

"Actually, the Normandy was co-developed by human and turian engineers. Its design incorporates many innovations. All of which are classified, I'm afraid" I replied coolly.

'Nice ending' I thought, smiling slightly.

"So the turians have information on the Normandy that is being kept secret from the Alliance public?" I probably shouldn't have mentioned that.

"Do you think it was appropriate to hand over the Alliance's most advanced warship over to the Citadel?" she continued as the interview turned more and more into an interrogation.

"A ship cannot be handed over as it is too heavy to carry. It would undoubtedly crush and kill you" Shiva said as she levitated over my shoulder.

"Not a very useful VI to take into the field, don't you think?" Khalisah asked.

Ignoring her question as I tried not to provoke Shiva, I tried thinking up a good answer for the last question.

"An answer to your previous question, I wasn't aware it had been handed over to anyone. I'm in command and last I checked I'm human. Same goes for my crew" I replied. Well except for Wrex, Garrus, Liara…

"Human, yes, but you do work for the Citadel now, Commander" she commented before her Omni-tool started to flash. Quickly checking it, her eyes lit up as she put it away and turn to me with a smile.

"One last question" She said as I saw the camera zoom in.

"Why did you feel it necessary to impersonate Commander Shepard to save the Quarian, _lieutenant_?"

'…Oh bugger, what can I say to that?' I thought, panicked but still had a calm expression as I brainstormed for a good reason.

"Well, I…My sister, Commander Shepard, and I are currently on a very important, high-risk mission and she needs all her crew ready and able to complete the mission. She told me to use whatever method necessary to make sure it happens," I told them nervously.

"So she believes her crew is above the law? Interesting" she smiled.

"Adding to your last statement, what details can you release about this high-risk mission that allows your crew to be free of the law?" She asked.

'Don't' was all I could think about.

"Classified, I'm afraid" I replied.

"Don't worry, we'll find out" I bet you will.

"Thank you for your time, Lieutenant" she nodded before walking off.

Sighing, I turned to see Tali still standing there.

"Did I do good?" I asked, hoping I hadn't screwed it up majorly.

"Well…" she said.

"Thank you, Tali, for the encouragement" I joked, rolling my eyes. I could hear her giggle under the mask, making me smile as I wrapped an arm around her.

"Come on, as a job well done, I'll buy us drinks" I smiled at her as we quickly fled the Academy.

"Here" I said, handing her a small drink as we sat at a small table in the embassy's lounge, figuring the peace and quiet would be nice for a change.

"Thank you" she said, accepting the drink as I sat opposite her.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you…" I began but I got my answer when a slit opened in the mask where her mouth was as she slipped a straw in her drink and drank through the straw.

I sat quietly as she noticed I didn't have a drink.

"Don't you want one?" she asked, taking the straw out of her mouth.

"I'm having one with Garrus later" I explained.

"You two really get along with each other" she commented. I smiled happily.

"We've been friends for a long time" I told her.

"Must be nice…I usually kept to myself on the fleet, focusing on inventions and ways to help my people. Growing up with a father on the Admiralty Board does that to you: You tend to think less of games and more of the people you play the games with" she explained.

"What was living with your father like?" I asked her.

She turned her head, looking out of the side window into the presidium.

"It wasn't an easy life. My father and mother worked hard for the fleet, so I was raised with the same expectations. I knew they loved me, even if they didn't say…living in the fleet, you can't be selfish. It could end up hurting many people," she explained before looking at me.

"They care about me…but the fleet must come first" she finished.

"So you never had time as a family?" I questioned.

"Of course we did. I may be smart, but at a few months old, I can't exactly take care of myself" she replied.

"They raised me like any parent would; loved me like any parent would. They just have different methods of doing so" she finished.

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself" I stated. I heard her sigh under her helmet.

"Wouldn't you want to believe it instead of the other option?" she asked, shrugging.

"Well, I'm sure they do, Tali" I agreed with her. She nodded, remaining silent for a few moments before speaking.

"I've been thinking…" she began, catching my attention.

"About what?" I asked her.

"About that C-Sec Officer, when you used your sister's identity to help me, I've been thinking about something," she continued.

"Feel like sharing?" I asked.

"Jane fights for the greater good of the galaxy, but she only involves herself in large problems like stopping Saren. She'll ignore the others that need help because she doesn't believe them important" Tali began, looking up at me.

"But you involve yourself in the smallest of disagreements, no matter the problem, and if things don't go the way you plan, you do whatever necessary to make sure it does" she continued before looking out the window.

"Jane focuses on the large while you the small, but you both do whatever you think necessary, even if it is illegal" she finished before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, I sound like a babbling asari now" she said before looking back at me.

"You are a good person, Lily. That's all I wanted to say," she said before sipping more of her drink.

"Thanks" I grinned at the Quarian as I decided now would be a good chance for recon.

"So before, when we were in the ambassador's office, you said that you were on your…Pilgrimage? What is that?" I asked her.

She pulled out the straw and began talking.

"Basically, it's like a right of passage, we must leave our birth ship and find a new crew to accept us. We need to find something valuable to hand to our Captain to prove we won't be a waste of resources," she explained.

"So what do you need to find?" I asked her.

"Like I said, something valuable, but being the daughter of one of the admirals puts a lot of pressure on me. They expect me to find something worthwhile," she continued.

"What about something about the geth?" I asked.

"If we could find information on the geth, information on how they have evolved, that could help the fleet immensely when dealing with geth," she replied.

'Alright: find data, give data to Tali, loyalty in return' I thought happily as now there was only two left'

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I looked to see Tali had finished her drink.

"Thanks, Lily. I'd better go. The stares from some of these people make me feel…unwelcome," she told me before leaving the bar.

Suddenly, Shiva came up in front of me.

"Shiva!" I said, yelping in surprise.

"Finding the data for Tali's Pilgrimage might prove sufficient enough to gain loyalty. You now need information on Wrex and Garrus," she said, confirming my previous thoughts.

"Then we'd better get started," I said before taking out the Atlas.

Bringing up the maps of the Citadel areas, I noticed something odd. Zooming in on Doctor Michel's clinic, I read the name in surprise.

"Mother?"


	21. The Discovery of Family and Friends

"Shiva is this right?" I asked her, showing her the atlas as she did a scan.

It couldn't be, mom was back on Earth. That couldn't be her, could it?

I waited for a few moments as Shiva began scanning for information.

"According to the Citadel Estate Agency, Samantha Shepard has bought a small apartment in the Zakera Ward and is currently working as an assistant for Dr. Chloe Michel" Shiva informed me as we left the embassy lounge and headed towards a close by rapid-transit hub.

"Thanks for the info" I nodded at her as we entered the cab and flew towards the Upper Wards.

We remained silent during the ride; the only sound being Shiva beeping every now and then.

Eventually, the cab landed as we exited to see the entrance of the Med Clinic.

Wasting no time, we entered the clinic to see mom filing away some documents.

"Mom?" I called out to her as I walked towards her.

She turned around; immediately after seeing me she raised a grin.

"Lily!" she said happily as she closed the distance and brought me into a hug. I tensed under her touch, not expecting it. She pulled back, still wearing a smile.

"How have you been?" she asked as she walked to her desk to put down the files in her hand.

"Uh, good. Thanks for asking" I replied as she turned back to me.

"So, what can I do for you?" she asked, curiously, eyeing Shiva as she floated around the room.

"Well, not to sound rude, but…what are you doing here?" I asked her.

She replied with a laugh that I've never heard before, ever. Is this the same woman who raised me? Her laughter soon died down as she thought more about her reply.

"Well…when your father died and you left, I couldn't afford to keep the house anymore. I managed to sell it for a good sum of credits but I knew that I couldn't stay on Earth anymore…too many bad memories" she answered, her happiness slowly dissipating.

"I managed to afford a ticket off-world and onto the Citadel, but by then, I only had a handful of credits left and nowhere to go," she continued before looking down.

"I…I sent a message to the Normandy, to you and Jane, to…to see if you could help me" she said, shamefully.

I couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for her.

"I got a reply from the ship: it suggested an apartment that was being sold cheap because of its poor quality, but it also suggested the job opening at the clinic and, after about a week, I was able to fix up the place" she smiled, her happiness returning.

"Wait, I never received the message. Who replied to it?" I asked her, confused.

"It was Lieutenant Alenko, I believe his name was" she replied. Kaidan?!

"Really?" I asked, shocked.

"He was the one who came to help you at the bank, wasn't he? He is such a gentleman. You are very lucky to have a man like that by your side" she smiled at me.

"What do you…oh! Oh no, we're just friends" I told her.

"Really? But he looked…are you sure?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course I'm sure" I shook my head at her.

"Oh, well. Never mind then" she smiled quickly at me. We stood awkwardly for a few moments before I started talking.

"So, what do you do here?" I asked her.

"Well, ironically, I'm a health consultant and assistant here. I help people who've had drug or alcohol addictions," she said, taking pride in her work.

"And a very good consultant at that" Michel's familiar face appeared from around the corner as she began sorted through different files. She looked at me before flashing a friendly smile.

"I haven't forgotten what you have done for me, Lieutenant. When I realized that Samantha was your mother and that she was having trouble, I felt it was the least I could," she explained as she stood next to her.

"Thanks, Doctor" I nodded at her as mum turned to face her.

"Michel, is it alright if I take a break? I need to talk to my daughter for a few minutes" she asked her as Michel nodded.

"Of course, just don't take too long. There are appointments to sort through, after all" she said as she sat down at the desk, beginning to type on the computer. Mother motioned to the door.

"I will remain here to assist Doctor Michel. I know enough not to intrude on 'family moments' " Shiva told me as she flew around the corner. The surprised yelp told me she noticed Shiva.

"Well," Mom said as she began to walk to the door.

"Shall we?" she said as we left the clinic together, leading me to a cab.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" I asked her.

She remained silent as we entered the cab. Mom took the wheel as we flew to what I assume is her apartment.

No sooner than when we entered the cab were we parking at an apartment block.

"Come on. This way" she said as we left the cab and entered the large building. I didn't know if it was just me but something felt troubling about this place.

We entered one of the few elevators that were working as it lifted us up to what felt like the top floor.

"You get an amazing view from up here" she told me as the elevator stopped, revealing a small empty space and a locked door. Quickly fishing out the key from her pocket, she unlocked the door, revealing a pure-white living room. Literally, _everything _was white: walls, carpet, sofa, kitchen and even the doors.

A window formed the entire wall at the back of the apartment, showing the view of the presidium ring, the illuminated citadel tower, and the ward arms reaching out past us.

"Colourful" I joked while walking towards the large window reaching from the floor to the ceiling, leaning against it as I gazed down below.

Hearing a noise, I turned to see mom searching the cupboards.

"Tea?" she asked.

"I'm alright thanks" I nodded, walking over and leaning against the kitchen counter.

She continued her search, looking for a teacup.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked her, curiously. She seemed to falter in her searching before spotting a cup.

"I want to talk about your father," she said, grabbing the cup.

"Oh, mom…" I groaned, not wanting to talk about him.

"No you're going to listen to me" she said firmly, almost slamming the cup onto the counter.

I remained silent as I waited for her to continue.

It was only then that I got a good look at her: dark brown, neatly cut hair circled her face like a bowl of hair; dark green eyes stared defiantly at me, reminding me of Jane; her medical clothes were a grey-white colour and hugged her tightly like a second skin on top of her natural pasty white skin.

"I need to tell you this otherwise it will bug me for the rest of my life" she finally continued, turning to face me.

"I know how you feel about your father…" she began as I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms in the process.

"But he wasn't always like that" she finished. I looked at her, waiting for more. This I have to hear.

She sighed as she leaned on the counter opposite me.

"He used to be in the military, y'know," she said, immediately catching me off-guard. I stayed silent, patiently waiting.

"He was proud when he reached the rank of Lieutenant. Said he wanted to be just like his Grandfather," she continued.

"Grandfather was in the military?" I asked, continuing my surprise.

"He was one of the men who fought to protect Shanxi" she told me, stunning me.

"He was in the First Contact War? Why wasn't I told?" I asked her.

"I didn't want to tell you. I felt it may sour your views on the other races and we didn't want that. As harsh as your father was, even he respected the aliens" she explained.

"He served under General Williams. They were great friends and he was there when Shanxi had to be surrendered to the turians…he didn't want to give up since he lost so many friends to the turians… so he did a suicidal charge at the turian commander…he was shot dead before he even realized he was bleeding" she said sadly before shrugging.

"At least that's what the general said. Your father was greatly upset but was determined to make him proud. He enlisted into the military the first chance he got. He was usually assigned to different systems so I raised your sister on my own most of the time while carrying his second daughter for months on end" she continued, smiling weakly at me.

"But then why did he leave the military, and why did he turn into…him?" I asked her.

"Well it was more forceful than voluntarily," she said.

She stayed silent for a few seconds before slowly beginning to answer.

"He and his men…got a distress signal from a nearby planet. He immediately noticed it was close to a Thresher Maw's nest" she began. Oh…

"He tried to tell them to ignore it but…the commander wasn't having any of it. He said there job was to protect people. He didn't give up, saying they were all going to die if they did a rescue attempt…the commander glared at him and said if he wasn't prepared to die to help the people he wanted to protect, then he didn't deserve to wear his uniform" she continued before shaking her head.

"He still didn't give up. He yelled at him to turn the ship around and nearly forcibly took control. Eventually, it took most of his friends to hold him down as the commander organized a shuttle to the nearest station and suspended him from service" she finished before standing up from the counter and began to pace.

"You can imagine what happened next…he received the news a week later. He didn't stop blaming himself. He eventually was discharge from the military, being judged unfit for active duty. I tried to help him through this but he mostly ignored my attempts…inevitably, he drowned his sorrows in bottles, which made him even more upset, meaning he drank more and…well, you get the picture" she stopped in front of me.

"Eventually, he was so far gone that, when you were born, he just stopped caring about us" she said sadly as I stood unmoving, soaking it all in. Mom waited for a reaction but, receiving only a black face, she flashed a smile, as if forgetting the conversation completely.

"Why don't I make you a tea?" she said before turning to face the kettle. I shook myself out of my thoughts, declining the tea with a wave of my hand.

"No thanks, I…I need to go" I said before quickly heading to the door.

"Oh…ok" she said, watching me. As I opened the door, I heard her shout loudly behind me.

"Love you!" she yelled.

I was too lost in my thought to hear her, shutting the door quickly and entered the elevator.

Riding it down, the doors opened as I just about ran from the building and into the cab, quickly starting it and flying off.

I didn't know what to think: whether I should feel pity for the man or even more hatred for mother, trying to make the man seem honorable and guiltless.

I guess, if anything, I at least knew why he was the way he was. Better than blind resentment, I suppose.

I was so lost in my thoughts; I reached the Ward Markets in what seemed like only a minute.

Exiting the cab, I immediately headed straight to Flux. If there was anything my father taught me at a young age, it was drinking solves your problems as long as you keep drinking it. The years of alcohol have given me a krogan-like stomach: I'm able to drink with the best of them. How'd you think I'm able to drink Ryncol and still stay standing? Well, for a while…

"Hey" a gruff voice said in front of me.

I looked up to see Wrex walking out of Flux.

"Wrex" I nodded at him, knowing exactly what he wanted.

"Don't suppose you remember our deal?" he asked, standing in front of me.

"It may have crossed my mind" I smiled innocently.

"Well, turns out, there's a way to pay me back for Noveria" he said before looking behind me.

"Noticed you forgot your little helper," he said. I squeezed my eyelids in frustration. I knew I was forgetting something.

"Don't worry. Anyway, about the favor?" I questioned him.

"Right. Here's the thing: I've got some…unfinished business with my family" he started explaining.

"Like?" I pushed the topic.

"I made an oath to my father's father. I swore to recover my family's battle armor. It was taken from him after the uprising" he continued.

"So what? You're expecting me to lead an assault against the turian military for a piece of armour?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Now there's a thought" he chuckled before shaking his head.

"Unfortunately, no. The military used to have it, but now it's in the hands of a turian called Tonn Actus, a turian bastard who's made millions selling krogan relics to the highest bidder" he sneered.

"Ok, that I can do. So, where is he?"

"I've got the data and I'll send it to your nav. system." He finished before closing the space.

"And I want to be there when you get it" he stated before backing off and walking past me.

"Nice doing business with you" he shouted over his shoulder. I shook my head, smiling at the bounty hunter, before making my way into Flux. The sole desire for a drink growing every second.

Until distraction No. 2 arrives.

I looked around to see Kaidan and Garrus glaring at each other and what seems like Kaidan yelling at him. Figuring I won't have my drink in peace until it's ended, I sighed as I waked towards the pair.

"Nice to see you two getting along" I joked as I stood next to them.

"Actually, I was just leaving" Kaidan said before turning and pacing off.

"Kaidan" I yelled behind him trying to get his attention but he just waved me off.

I turned to Garrus to see his eyes still haven't left Kaidan disappearing form.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked him.

"Nothing, Shepard. Just a…minor disagreement" he finished, turning to me at last.

"Minor? Okay, now I know it's more than that" I crossed my arms at the turian. He never calls me Shepard unless he's really angry or deadly serious. Given his glaring form, I'm opting for the former.

"It doesn't matter. Besides, it's a problem you can't fix" he said, sounding like he wanted to drop it.

'I can always bug them about it later. Right now, focus on the mission', my brain told me.

"Well then," I said, leaning on the table next to us.

"Willing to buy a girl a drink?" I grinned flirtatiously at him. He chuckled before leading me to the bar.

"Depends on the woman" he replied smoothly before looking me up and down.

"Yep. I think you fit the bill" he waved his hand at the bartender as he began fixing up a couple of drinks.

"Glad I've earned your approval" I joked accepting the drink from the bartender.

I took a quick gulp of the drink before turning the Garrus.

"So, I didn't really give you a chance to vent about things. So, let's fix that" I said before leaning my side against the bar, hand folded over my stomach.

"Tell me about C-Sec" I asked him.

"C-Sec, huh?" he asked before shrugging.

"Not much to tell, except for a few missions" he replied dismissively.

"Anything interesting?" I continued.

"Well, there was the mission on Earth" he gave a turian smile in my direction before continuing.

"The only other mission really worth knowing is…a bit more disturbing," he explained, immediately catching my curiousity.

"Do tell" I made a gesture with my hand for him to continue.

He took a gulp from his drink before beginning.

"It was this Salarian geneticist I was sent to investigate" he began.

"I was tasked with black market trade on the Citadel. Most of it's harmless. Nothing I needed to pursue" he continued.

"But during my investigation, I noticed a particular increase in body parts. Organs, mostly" he explained. When he finished, I looked back at my drink before sighing and putting it on the table.

"Thanks, Garrus. You put me off my drink. You deserve a medal" I joked but stared sadly at the glass before turning back to Garrus.

"I told you it was disturbing" he defended before getting back to the story.

"Anyway, we usually get a few of those but this was off the charts. We weren't sure if it was a lab or a psycho harvesting body parts," he continued.

"Wait, this sort of thing is _common_?" I stared at him shocked.

"Usually labs selling unwanted parts. Occasionally, you get the psychos" he replied, leaving me speechless, mainly because I had no intention of finding out about the psychos.

"One of them was an elcor diplomat we caught in my first year. He hacked up his victims and sold their organs; had the whole station panicked" he added.

And of course he would tell me about the psychos…

"There was also this hanar-" he began but I quickly stopped him.

"Please, no more" I begged. The idea of hacking someone up…I can't even imagine. It makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

"Just, stay with the story?" I suggested, hopefully.

He rolled his eyes but I knew he said that on purpose. He always had a way of making me squirm.

"Anyway, we managed to get a sample of an organ and ran DNA tests. Weird thing: it matched a very much-alive turian who was pretty certain he hadn't lost a liver" he continued.

"Turns out he used to work briefly with Dr. Saleon, the geneticist" he finished before taking another gulp of his drink; finishing it off. Deciding to risk it, I tried taking a sip from my drink.

"So we searched his lab for evidence, but nothing turned up. No livers, stomachs…not even one krogan testicle" he said, making me try hard not to spit my drink out as I giggled immaturely.

"I knew that would make you laugh" he smirked before getting back to the story.

"Anyway, we began interrogating his employees, see if we could learn anything," he continued.

"And during one of them, the employee started to bleed profusely. We tried to patch him up but he began to panic" he explained

"What did you do?" I asked, becoming enthralled in the story.

"We eventually had to knock him out. I ordered a full exam on him, which discovered multiple incision marks all over is body. Most of them were fresh" he replied, immediately reminding me of Cerberus, the human-survivalist paramilitary organization.

You see, before we were assigned onto the Normandy as Anderson's crew, Kaidan and I were sent to investigate the disappearance of a rear admiral. We traced his movements to a remote Cerberus facility where we found his body strapped to 'medical' equipment with incision marks surrounding his forehead.

Ignoring my thoughts, I paid attention to Garrus's story.

"It was our break. We realized that he was cloning organs inside these people and later harvested them. They weren't employees, they were test subjects!" he told me.

Noticing movement in the corner of my eye, I turned to see the bartender shaking his head.

"I've never seen someone talk this much at a bar before…"he mumbled, catching Garrus's attention. He fell silent as I chuckled at his expression.

"He'll have another one" I asked the salarian bartender. He nodded at me before fixing a drink while I turned back to Garrus.

"Go on, then. I want to know what happened to him" I encouraged him as I passed the drink to his side.

"Well, if the bartender doesn't mind…" he stared at said man as he lifted his hands in defeat before beginning to serve the other customers.

He turned back to me as he began to continue the story.

"Anyway, the people were poor so he traded a percentage of the profit for their help but only if the organs were good" he explained.

"And if they weren't?" I dreaded the answer.

"He left them in there" he replied curtly.

"You two always talk about this sort of things in bars?" the salarian asked.

"Luckily, no" I answered him as we both turned to Garrus. Seemed his story caught his attention as well.

"The worst part was that, because he left them in there, their body completely changed internally; everything had to move to make space for the organ and the body didn't function properly when the organ had fully developed. They eventually died," he added.

"I hope he got what was coming to him," I thought aloud; the bartender nodded in agreement.

"That's the thing…we never caught him," he confessed.

"What?!" the salarian and I said instantaneously.

"Yep. He blew up his lab and ran with a few of his test subjects to the closest space port" he explained.

"Why couldn't you stop him?" the salarian asked.

"I only found out when he was just leaving. Threatened the lives of the test subjects if we stopped him" he replied.

"But you followed him, right?" I questioned him.

"I ordered them to fire but C-Sec overrode my command. They were worried about the hostages and fatalities if we blew it up this close to the Citadel" he answered, which I couldn't help but agree to. Still, I would've at least tracked him to see where he was going and finish him where it was safe.

"Do you have any idea where he is?" the bartender asked.

"I sent out agents now and then to check out suspicious people and I think I may have found him" he replied.

"A few days ago, I got a report from one of the scouts about a salarian called Dr. Heart and his ship, the MSV Fedele" he continued.

"If you want, I could ask Jane to see if we could check it out," I told him. I swear his eyes brightened at my words.

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'll upload the co-ordinates to the Normandy database. But, please, tell your sister to bring me if you're heading there. If it is Dr. Saleon, I want to be there" he asked as I noticed our friendly bartender go silent.

I turned to see him as a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

"What ship was that again? He asked Garrus.

"The MSV Fedele" he answered. Worry returned to his eyes.

"My brother's working on that ship…" he said as his form slumped. Garrus and I exchanged uncomfortable glances as I awkwardly laid a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll keep an eye out for your brother while we're there, okay?" I tried to comfort him as he nodded.

"Thank you," he mumbled as the awkwardness settled. A few moments later, he sat up and returned to his normal state.

"Well, I better get back to work. Let me know if you find him" he said before returning to the other customers.

"…Wow, that was quick," I said in awe as the previously worried salarian returned to the task at hand without so much as a slumped posture.

"He _is _a salarian, remember? They're not exactly known as being emotional," he stated as his eyes went past me towards the door.

"Yeah, but you'd think it would've lasted a little longer" I argued as I noticed his attention was elsewhere.

"I think someone wants you," he told me as I turned to see Shiva floating by the door with a never-before-seen red light flashing from her 'face'.

"Well, I'll see you later, Garrus" I nodded as I left towards Shiva.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as I came closer to her. She floated closer before opening a compartment on her body, revealing a black hole.

"Shiva, what're you-OW!" I yelped as the stinging sensation travelled up and down my arm. She just zapped me!

"You left me in the med clinic" she stated as she floated next to my head.

"And that gives you the right to zap me?" I glared at her, rubbing my arm.

"Precisely" she replied as we left Flux and travelled down the stairs.

"Well, warn me next time, would ya?" I asked her as we headed towards the rapid transit before I noticed Kaidan leaning against the railing overlooking the ward arms.

I stared at him before turning to Shiva.

"Shiva, can you find my sister and tell her we've found the data required for the crew's loyalty?" I asked her.

"Very well, Lily" she replied, returning to her normal state as we began to hover towards the markets.

"If she wanted me to leave, she should've said so…" her mumbles followed her away.

When she left, I made a beeline towards Kaidan.

"Guess who?" I said as I walked next to him, leaning on the rail.

"I give up" he replied, giving a small smile before returning to his blank stare out into space.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked him.

"I'm sorry," he said. Well that was unexpected.

"Sorry about?" I asked.

"Everything…I don't know if you haven't noticed yet, but I've been a bit grouchy lately," he explained.

"A bit?" I joked, earning a chuckle.

"Yeah, well it turns out my implants have started to flare up lately" he told me.

"Really? Why?" I questioned him.

"Apparently, Dr. Chakwas said I've been under a lot of stress lately.

"About what?" I questioned him. He remained silent for a few moments before speaking.

"He's not good, Lily" he stated, catching me off guard.

"Who isn't?" I asked him.

"Garrus: he's not good" he stated, making me roll my eyes.

"Why do you hate him?" I sighed in agitation.

"I don't trust him. Look, I'll tell you why later. Now I just want to…. I just need to think," he mumbled, staring out at the arms.

We stood in comfortable silence next to each other.

"Do you remember when we met?" he asked me, out of the blue.

"You mean when we were training to be lieutenants?" I asked him.

"Yeah" he nodded.

"What about it?" I asked him as he sighed.

"…When I first saw you standing at attention as the officers inspected you, I said to myself 'She's special'. I'd never met you before in my life, and my brain was saying you were special" he explained, smiling slightly as if it was a joke.

"I'm a special woman" I grinned happily.

"I didn't understand it at first, but…thinking about it…I've realized why" he said, turning to face me. I watched him as I patiently waited for him to continue.

He pushed himself off the railing and turned to face me fully.

"You're different," he said, as if that was all he needed to say.

"Different?" I said, confused.

"You're beautiful, smart, charming as hell," he said, walking closer.

"And you're always there to help…no matter what" he said, lifting a hand as he cupped my cheek.

"You can find that in all women, Kaidan" I replied swiftly, weakly trying to pull away.

"I've only found it in one" he whispered. Wait, what is he-

He leaned in and, in one swift move, pulled me in for a kiss.


	22. The Perspective of Jane

**Jane**

'God, I hate C-Sec' I thought annoyed as we walked out of the elevator and up the stairs towards the markets.

I wanted a drink from Flux and the girl wouldn't shut up about her sister being in danger at Chora's Den. I knew exactly where it was going before she even said it.

' "_I hope she's alright there" she said, worried._

"_Do you want me to help her?" I asked, boredly'_.

I knew I would never get my drink at that rate so I went straight to Chora's Den to help her. Except the girl didn't want any help so I left to get my drink at Flux and I was stopped by this random turian and told to go to C-Sec.

So my agitated self went to C-Sec and I had to wait out a lecture from the turian, telling me off for wanting to help her. Then he said he'd help her if I deal with this black-market trade deal.

'_God_, I hate C-Sec' I moaned in my mind before noticing Kaidan walk briskly out of Flux and leant against the railing overlooking the ward arms.

'Guess he didn't get a drink, either' I thought before deciding the git-of-a-turian could wait for his stuff.

I told everyone to wait as I walked over to him and leant against the railing beside him.

"Didn't get a drink, either?" I asked him as he turned to me confused.

"A drink, Commander?" he said, obviously not having the same problem, then.

"Yeah, people usually go to bars to drink, or is that just me?" I said sarcastically.

He sighed as he pushed up from the railing and turned to lean against it on his backside, crossing his arms as he did it.

"Something you need, Commander?" he asked me. One of the things I like about him: no small talk; straight to business.

"Something you need, Lieutenant? I rarely see you this frustrated," I said, watching him.

"It's nothing. Dr. Chakwas said my implants are acting up because I'm stressed," he explained. Wonder why…

"This doesn't have anything to do with a certain alien crew member, does it?" I asked but I already knew the answer. I didn't even say his name and I saw Kaidan's jaw tighten.

"Explain" I ordered, wanting whatever the hell is going on between those two to be over with.

"Do you get a bad vibe from him, Commander?" he asked.

"I get that from everyone. At least everyone whose tried to shoot me" I replied, which immediately caught his attention.

"He tried to shoot you?" he asked shocked.

"It was years ago but I never forget a face" I added.

"What the hell happened?" he asked me.

"It's a long story but I can explain to you on the ship. God knows, I've nothing better to do" I mumbled the last part sarcastically.

We stood in silence before I decided to come out and say it.

"So, have you asked my sister out, yet?" I asked calmly, staring out at the ward arms as I saw Kaidan freeze in place.

"Uh, Commander?" he asked, surprised. I smirked before pushing off of the railing and standing in front of him.

"You didn't think I'd notice you trying to make passes at my sister?" I told him, crossing my arms.

He remained silent as he looked away.

"Word of advice: tell her," I told him.

He still remained silent for a few more moments before replying.

"What if she says no?" he asked. I just shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. If you want to have any chance at all, you need to tell her. She's smart but completely oblivious to this kind of thing," I explained as he nodded in understanding.

"Plus, no sister of mine is going to date a man who can't even speak to her about this" I added, feeling the moment was getting a little awkward.

He sighed before speaking.

"So do you think I should?" he asked. Well, I guess a little encouragement wouldn't hurt…

"Sure. Unless, you wouldn't mind seeing her in the arms of the turian" I replied coolly. He fell silent as I began to walk back to the group but not before whispering a final note to him.

"Y'know, he might've already made his move" I smirked as I walked back to the others.

"That wasn't very nice, Jane" Liara scolded me as I got closer. I rolled my eyes at her disapproval.

"Kid needed a little encouragement. Hopefully now, he'll have the balls to say something" I defended myself as Liara and Ashley both shook their heads at me.

"I'm getting reprimanded by my own crew," I mumbled as we walked towards the markets.

"Hey, Commander!" I looked to the side to see a man wearing blue clothes and blonde hair waving me over.

'Oh no, not him again' I grumbled in my mind as I walked towards said man, Conrad Verner.

"Hey, Commander. I've got an idea, and I wanted to run it by you" Conrad whispered looking from side to side.

'This should be good' I thought as I nodded at him, waiting for him to continue.

"With so many human colonies being attacked, I don't think one Spectre is enough" he began to explain. I can already see where he's going with this.

"What if you signed me on as another Spectre?" he suggested it like it was the best idea in the world. Oh god, why do you hate me today?

"I want to show what humanity is capable of. I'd make a great Spectre," he added.

"No" I replied quickly. He actually seemed surprised.

"But I can do it! I want to be with you, fighting the good fight, like what you tried to do on Torfan," he explained, which made me confused.

"What do you mean tried?" I asked him.

"Well, I respect you completely, but…it wasn't exactly your…proudest moment" he replied.

Oh hell no.

Quickly taking out my pistol, I aimed it at his head.

"This is what I had to live through on Torfan, Conrad. Like it?" I glared at him as he began to panic.

"Please, please don't hurt me! Why are you doing this?" he whimpered behind the barrel of the pistol.

"This is how a gun in your face feels! It happens to me everyday!" I yelled as he continued to whimper.

"You can't handle it" I finished, putting the pistol away as he slowly calmed down.

"I thought you were a hero!" he yelled as he walked off.

"Pathetic" I shook my head at him as I turned to the disapproving glare of Liara.

"Keep doing that, your face will stick" I commented, still annoyed.

"There was no need for that and you know it" Liara argued.

"He needed to learn" I shrugged. Liara wouldn't let up as I sighed, figuring she wouldn't let this go.

"Torfan is…not a happy memory. I'll leave it at that" I explained. Her gaze turned sympathetic as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay," she said. I smiled slightly at the asari as we continued down to the markets to see the back market trader.

God, I hate C-Sec.

"Okay then, where's the dealer?" I mumbled, scanning the markets.

"Found him" Ashley motioned at a single krogan in black armour standing next to a pile of crates watching us.

"This should be interesting" I smirked, strolling over to said krogan.

"I take it you're the dealer" I crossed my arms, looking intrigued.

"I take it you're the buyer" he crossed his arms, looking bored.

"Only if the merchandise is good," I retorted as one of his helpers showed us an open case, revealing weapon mods and a lethal-looking shotgun.

"It's good: where's the money?" he grunted.

"Ashley?" I asked her as she tore her gaze from the merchandise.

"It's good" she replied as I chucked a pouch filled with credit chit at him.

Glaring, he opened it to find it was empty except for a note.

"Is this some kind of joke?" he glared, reading the note before a loud shotgun blast resonated in the chamber as the krogan crumpled to the floor.

His helper panicked and ran, dropping the box of merchandise.

"Commander?" Ashley said in shock while I recovered the weapon and the mods.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good shotgun" I smirked, admiring it as I threw the case of mods to Ashley.

"I'm sure you'll find something useful in them," I told her as I began to head back.

"What about helping the girl at Chora's den?" Liara asked as I shrugged, not stopping to look back.

"Wasn't thirsty anyway" I called over my shoulder as I felt Liara roll her eyes at my back before they followed me up the stairs and back towards C-Sec

I can't wait to see the look on the officer's face when I tell him his evidence is nicked and his contact is dead. Serves him right for that lecture I had to sit through.

**Lily**

I stared, wide-eyed, as he pulled away while gently gripping my forearms.

We stared at each other, speechless, as I tried to comprehend what the hell just happened.

"Kaidan…" I tried to speak but I couldn't think of anything to say. I mean I was still wrapping my head around this whole situation.

"Speechless?" Kaidan asked as he let go of my arms and retreated a step back.

"Very" I managed to say. Awkward silence followed as we continued to stare, not knowing what to say.

"Kaidan, can you…explain…what just happened?" I said quietly.

"I was hoping you'd guess," he said, lifting a hand a tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I like you…a lot" he confessed, cupping my cheek again.

I was rendered speechless once more as I tried to think of a reply.

"And since I've already come out and said it," he began, lowering his hand.

"I was hoping you…felt the same way," he finished.

I stood in silence before gripping the railing and leaning against it.

"Kaidan, I," I gave a small sigh.

"I need to think about this," I told him honestly. He nodded, hopefully in understanding and acceptance.

"I understand. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like this," he apologized.

'You're telling me' I thought as I nodded.

"It's okay," I said as I felt the need to break the awkwardness.

"Just warn me next time," I joked lightly as he smiled in reply.

Suddenly, a large metal ball floated in front of my face, making me jump back in surprise.

"Your message was delivered," Shiva said. Where did she come from?

"You did that on purpose" I glared at the floating orb.

"I would never purposefully scare" she replied, but something told me she was teasing me.

I rolled my eyes at her idea of humor as I turned to look at Kaidan but realized he left.

"Great, you scared him off" I told her as I began walking off towards the markets, trying to put the situation in the back of my mind for now.

"Is there anything else we need?" I asked her, passing the rows of stalls.

"Having Intel on the geth which is tactfully useful should prove valuable in earning Tali's loyalty; obtaining the krogan battle armour should prove favorable to earning Wrex's trust. Do you have anything to add, Lieutenant?" Shiva asked.

"A salarian geneticist, Dr. Saleon, is an organ harvester and Garrus wants us to stop him," I told her.

A few beeping noises later she began to speak.

"I have updated the Normandy's galaxy map with the location of Dr. Saleon and the krogan armour. I have also highlighted possible areas of geth interest where we could extract data" Shiva explained.

"Good work" I congratulated her.

"We have fulfilled the necessary requirements for this location. Should we return to the ship?" Shiva suggested. I nodded and turn around, walked past the stalls again and headed to C-Sec.

"Wait, how do you know about the krogan armor?" I asked her.

"The same reason I knew you were in Flux: I found Wrex" she explained as we entered the C-Sec elevator and travelled down into the academy.

"Lily, can I ask you something?" Shiva spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yes, Shiva?" I turned to face her.

"If you allow it, I would like to spend time studying Jeff Moreau" she asked. I looked at her stunned.

"Joker? Why?" I asked her.

"He interests me. I believe learning from him would be an interesting experience," she explained.

"We'll I don't have a problem with it, as long as Joker agrees" I told her as the elevator stopped and we walked into the academy to see Jane and the others walking towards us.

"Hey, Jane" I waved at her as we all stood by a news terminal.

"Hey. What're you-" she stopped as the news terminal began to speak.

"Coming up next: a simple interview turns into a discovery as Lieutenant Shepard of the SSV Normandy is caught impersonating her sister, Commander Shepard, to release her quarian crew member from interrogation. She claimed

'She told me to use whatever method necessary' to keep the crew from being unable to aid her in a classified, high-risk mission. The details will be released next on Westerlund News" the terminal ended the broadcast.

Silence ensued as Jane slowly turned to face me with an accusing stare. Knowing I was in trouble, I smiled sheepishly.

"I'll meet you on the ship" I said as I quickly shuffled past her towards the docking bay elevator. Shiva and I entered the elevator as it slowly lifted us up; the stare of my sister followed us until we were out of view.

We remained silent in the elevator until Shiva broke it with obviousness.

"I assume you would classify this as being 'bad timing'?" she asked.

"No, really?" I asked her sarcastically as the elevator stopped and we walked down the tunnel leading into the ship.

"There is no need for sarcasm," she told me as we entered the decontamination chamber.

"There is no need for stating the obvious either" I retorted as the long decontamination scan began.

After a good 5 minutes, the scan was complete and we entered the Normandy. I immediately took a left turn and walked into the cockpit.

"Hey, Joker" I said. He looked up from his magazine and burst out laughing. I looked at him confused before remembering the headband. Agitated, I tore it off before touching the area where I felt the roughness of the mark.

"Who is this woman?" Shiva's voice broke my focus as I looked down to see a woman wearing a swimsuit while leaning against a Kodiak shuttle on the magazine page. I looked at Joker with a raised eyebrow as he put up his hands in defense.

"I swear it's a magazine about ships. Nothing else" he said, showing me the cover, which was the Normandy: the heading being 'Normandy: The Ship of the Future'

"Alright, you're off the hook" I said as I sat in the co-pilot seat.

"So, need anything?" he asked, continuing to read his magazine.

"I have requested the allowance of studying you, Jeff" Shiva beat me to it.

"What?" he said, looking at Shiva confused.

"She said she wants to learn from you" I tried explaining.

"Okay…does that mean she'll stay with me while you're on missions?" he asked. I nodded, making him sigh.

"Alright, I guess" he shrugged. He probably didn't know what to say.

"I can still wirelessly connect with your Omni-tool, Lily, meaning I can still contact you with useful information while you're in the field" Shiva told me.

"So she now has the ability to annoy you wherever you go. Just putting it out there," Joker interrupted.

"Why would I do that when you're a much better target" Shiva retorted.

"Something tells me I'll regret agreeing to this" Joker mumbled as he continued reading his magazine as we fell into a peaceful silence.

My thoughts slowly returned to the situation between Kaidan and me. How the hell didn't I notice?

'Maybe you didn't want to' I thought. I sighed, pressing my forehead into the palm of my hand.

"You ok?' joker asked, hearing my sigh.

"Not really, no" I said honestly.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Did you ever…" I began.

"Lick a lamppost in winter?" Joker joked.

"What?" I asked, confused but shook my head.

"No, I was going to ask if you'd ever got the idea that Kaidan liked me" I told him.

"Yes" he replied quickly, turning the page in his magazine.

"Really?" I asked, shocked. He looked up at me like I'd just said the dumbest question in the world.

"Yes, why? You've only just noticed?" Joker asked me. I nodded, which he rolled his eyes at.

"Wow, you really are clueless," he mumbled, earning a hit on the arm.

"Ow. Hey, watch the arm!" he glared, rubbing the red mark on his forearm.

"I'm trying to talk to you" I glared at him.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" he asked.

"I don't know, _something _would be helpful" I replied.

"Well, ok. You know now that Kaidan likes you, right?" he began. I nodded in response.

"So, obviously, you need to know if you like him or not. No brainer" he finished.

"But I," I sighed mid-sentence, knowing he was right. All I had to do was realize if I like him in that way.

During my thinking, Joker decided to ask another question.

"So you really had _no idea_?" he asked me. I shook my head, still shocked I'd never noticed.

"Wow…I wonder," he mumbled, looking at me.

"What?" I asked him, curiously. He didn't say anything but returned to flipping through his magazine though it was obvious he wasn't reading any of it.

"So…_Garrus_ seems to be getting along with the crew," he commented.


	23. The Biotic and the Sniper

'Bloody hell, I hate you Joker' I mentally cursed the crippled pilot as I sat on the bed in my room, looking out into space through the small window.

'I tell him I have problems and what does he do? Adds to them!' I yelled in my mind as I laid back on the bed, feeling a wave of fatigue hit me.

'Why me?' I said a final argument as I closed my eyes and relaxed into the cushion.

In case you haven't realized the predicament: after explaining the situation with Kaidan with Joker, he decided it would be a good idea to tell me Kaidan wasn't the only one but in fact, _Garrus, _of all people, fancied me too.

Not knowing if I could believe him, I asked Tali and Ashley about this and they both agreed that Garrus liked me.

_I guess I can understand why he fancies other species. Have you ever seen a female turian? Neither have I _– Ashley's response

_Yes. Why, you never noticed it before? I'm wearing a helmet and even I know he likes you _– Tali response

It's had me going in circles in my mind. It's really starting to irritate me.

'Why can't everything just go back to normal?' I questioned mentally. Everything was different and I was questioning if it was driving me insane. I was half-expecting fairy Godmother to appear and sing 'Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo' or whatever it was.

So now, I have to decide if I like Kaidan or not _and_ Garrus or not. Worst part: I've no bloody clue!

"Why do I never notice this sort of thing? I mean, was this recent or has it been this way for a while…oh I don't know!" I screamed as I pressed the palms of my hands on my forehead, getting more and more frustrated the more I thought about it.

"Problems?" A familiar annoying voice asked from the other side of the room.

"Commander" I said, opening my eyes and sitting up to face my smirking sister, not the slightest bit surprised that I didn't notice she was there, considering I'm not exactly aware of my surroundings.

"You owe me one for the lecture I had to put up with from Hackett, covering for your ass" she smirked, walking over and sitting at the end of the bed.

"Sorry 'bout that" I said, not really focusing on what she was talking about.

"I swear, why does everyone have problems today?" I heard Jane mumbled to herself before speaking up.

"What's wrong?" she asked, resting her arms on her legs and leaned against them.

"Just…guy problems" I told her.

"Let me guess: Kaidan and Garrus?" she suggested, to which I threw my arms in the air in exasperation.

"Why the hell did everyone notice apart from me!?" I yelled in anger.

Jane just chuckled at my torture.

"You wouldn't notice if they had it written on their heads," she told me. I couldn't exactly deny that.

"Any advice?' I asked pitifully.

"Three reasons you _don't _want my advice," she began before holding up three fingers.

"One: I hate turians, so unfair decision there" She explained before lowering one of the fingers.

"Two: I'll never like anyone you date, so it's pointless asking me" she continued, lowering a second finger.

"Three: my advice would be to not bother at all" she lowered the last finger and dropped her hand back onto her leg.

I look at her quizzically as she rolled her eyes at my expression.

"We on an important mission for the council. Not exactly the time for 'mushy love triangle drama' " she explained. I stared at her in silence as I realized.

"Y'know, I never thought that before" I said, lying back down onto the bed.

"That's why I'm the all-knowing Commander and you're the clueless Lieutenant" she smirked, standing up from the bed and walking to the door.

She stopped in front of it before turning around.

"Oh, by the way, we're heading to Feros in a few hours so get some shut-eye while you can" she told me before leaving the room.

The thoughts of Kaidan and Garrus still remained in my mind but that short talk made it seem less important. Well, for now at least

Feeling slightly uplifted, I closed my eyes as I relaxed into a deep sleep, not knowing where my dreams would take me.

**Earth; London Police Station**

"I'll think about it" I replied quickly.

"Sorry, I kinda need an answer now" Garrus replied, making me glare at him.

"I said 'I'll think about it,' " I repeated.

"And I said-" I cut him off quickly.

"Look, if you haven't noticed: not a big fan of cops. So just give me a few bloody hours to think about it, okay?" I said, agitated as he tried to argue but a noise in the distance.

'Miss, you cannot go there. Miss!' a voice of who I assumed was a policeman yelled before the door opened, revealing someone I thought I'd never be more happy to see.

"Jane" I smiled at her as she glared at the turian.

"Any reason you took my sister here, turian?" she interrogated him as a policeman stood at the door.

"You can't be in here," he told Jane as he made a move for her arm. She pulled away as she turned to him.

"Touch me and I'll-" she stopped when Garrus stood up and spoke over her.

"It's fine, Officer. She can be here," he told him as he reluctantly nodded and, giving a final look to Jane, walked off.

Jane turned back to Garrus, still glaring though with a little less ferocity.

"I've come for my sister. Can she go or not?" she asked him. He nodded in response.

"She can go, I just need a way of contacting her," he explained.

"What for?" she continued to interrogate him.

I stood up from the chair and slightly pulled Jane back.

"It's okay, sis," I told her before turning to Garrus.

"Do you have a pen and paper?" I asked him as he grabbed them off the desk.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jane asked, confused as I scribbled down my mobile number and handed it to Garrus.

"Here" I said, handing it to the turian who accepted it and put it in his pocket.

"Alright, you can go now" he said. Jane quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room before he could changed his mind and dragged me through the station and into the car park.

Remaining silent, we entered Jane's hover car and drove away from the station as quickly as possible.

After a few minutes of silent driving, Jane suddenly smirked.

"Well, well Lily: you've been with the guy for 10 minutes and you give him your number. Jason will be jealous. Took him 3 months to get that" Jane joked as I rolled my eyes at my sister.

"Very funny" I said, though I smiled inwardly. Never thought I'd be this happy to hear her voice, even if she was taking the piss.

After a minute of her chuckling, it slowly died down as Jane became serious.

"So, seriously, what did he want?" she asked me, curiously.

"He wants me to set up Jason so he can get arrested" I explained.

"And what'd you say?" she continued.

"I said I'll think about it" I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Will you?" she asked.

"Hell no. I just wanted to get the hell outta there," I told her.

She gave me a look before focusing on traffic.

"What?" I asked her.

"You really do care for him, don't you?" she stated more than asked.

"I've no reason not to" I retorted. She looked like she wanted to say something but decided against it. We've had this conversation a million times over and it always ends the same way.

"Be safe" was always her way of ending the conversation as we pulled up next to our apartment block.

Walking in silence, we entered the building and ascended up the stairs to the first floor.

Jane quickly unlocked the door and let me go in first. We didn't have a lavish apartment but it was a place we could call home. That's more than most can say.

"You going to see Jason later?" Jane asked as she hung up her coat on the peg and collapsed onto the sofa, putting her feet on the armrest and crossing her arms behind her head as she laid back.

"Probably" I said before quickly grabbing the key that'd suddenly been chucked at me.

"Don't stay out late," she said in a sweet motherly voice before grabbing the TV remote.

"Yes, mum" I replied in an equally sweet voice before quickly grabbing my coat and bag and left the apartment; Jane's laughter followed me as I shut the door and descended down the stairs and left the block.

Jason's wasn't that far away so I decided to walk instead of drive, feeling the sudden need for fresh air.

During the walk, I couldn't help but think of the turi-Garrus.

'Maybe I should contact him…no, no, I won't betray Jason…but he might go after me, or worse, Jane…I can't, I'm not a snitch' I ran in circles as I continued down the path until I eventually stood in front of his door.

I took a deep breath as I lifted a fist to knock the door but an all too familiar noise resonated behind the door.

Giggles and all sorts of 'noises' happened behind the door as I immediately recognized one of them as Jason's and the other belonging to a woman.

Lowering my hand, I quickly realized what was happening and sighed before spinning around and slowly walked down the steps. I decided to travel down the path towards the park, not wanting to return just yet.

It seemed no matter how far I walked, their voices followed me with every step I took.

This is what my sister always wants to argue with when we talk about Jason; when I say I have no reason not to care for him. She would never say it though; she realizes it's a sensitive topic

I kicked a stone with my foot before crossing my arms to retain heat as a sudden breeze blew around me.

I returned to my seat on the bench and sat down. I lifted my legs onto the bench before wrapping my arms around my knees.

A single tear rode down my cheek as I quickly rubbed it away. I would not cry for this, I could handle it.

The worst part was through the years I've been with him, I'm starting to get used to this.

I know what you think: why don't I just leave the SOB and have a happy life? Well, for one: he'd probably kill me for even considering the idea, and two: I've not exactly been a good source for a good life. Throughout everything, Jason is the only man I've met who's cared for me or even wanted me. Living with a father like mine doesn't give you a lot of high expectations in men.

I know he cares for me, he just has…urges, and I'll confess, it's partially my fault he does this.

During our relationship, we haven't once slept together. I just don't feel ready for it, y'know?

So, in a way, I guess you can blame me for that bitch being in his house. Although what little pride I have would never allow me to admit it vocally.

I sighed loudly before hearing a noise to my left. I turned to see a couple, a human and an asari, cuddly and giggling with each other. I glared at the couple before turning away.

"Screw you, God. Are you trying to make me _more_ depressed?" I mumbled quietly.

Suddenly, I felt the bench lower slightly as my head spun to the right.

"God sends his apology" he commented.

I swear this turian is stalking me.

"I'm surprised you're alone. I was certain your sister wouldn't leave you for the rest of the day" Garrus stated, crossing his legs.

"She does what she needs to to keep me safe, but after that she knows she can leave me alone" I told him quickly, hoping to end the conversation; the last one ended up with me being arrested so I wasn't taking any chances.

"Still, figured you'd be with some company" he shrugged as I looked him up and down. He noticed my staring and looked at me quizzically.

"What?" he questioned me.

"Why are you talking to me?" I interrogated him.

"Any reason why I shouldn't? Or is it because I'm not supposed to be 'friendly with criminals' " he quoted our talk from the car. It only made me glare.

"Look: you want me for information. It doesn't mean you have to talk to me," I told him. Suddenly, I felt my eyes drift to the couple from before.

"I think you need to talk now more than ever," he stated, making me roll my eyes.

"I'm fine, okay? I'm just…thinking," I said, turning back to him.

He looked away for a second before a small grin appeared on his face as he turned back to me.

"I think I know just the thing to cheer you up," he said. I eyed him warily, waiting for him to share his idea before I had the right mind to run like hell.

Instead of talking, he stood up from the bench and turned to me before reaching out a hand to me.

I stared at the hand before looking up at him cautiously.

"Trust me: Guaranteed to put a smile on your face" he said.

'Well…you've nothing better to do…let's hope I remembered to keep that bottle of pepper spray in my bag' I thought as I slowly but steadily put my hand in his; lowering my legs onto the floor as he pulled me up.

"Okay…I trust you," I said though I still had doubt. He dropped my hand and turned away.

"No, you don't" he said as I followed him, a hint of a smile on my lips.

This might actually be fun.

**Earth; Tower Bridge**

"Garrus, what. The. Hell" I whispered as I exited the hover car and walked to the edge of London Tower Bridge…on top of Tower Bridge. I turned to Garrus, a confused but curious look fixed on my face.

"What _exactly_ did you plan?" I asked him. He didn't reply, instead he turned and walked to the hover car before opening the door to the backseat.

Reaching inside, he pulled out a long black case and closed the door. He quickly opened the lock on the case and pulled out a sniper rifle, making me watch in excitement.

"Target practice," he said as he unlatched the sniper rifle, making in stretch to its full length.

"Why do you have that in your car?" I asked.

"I felt the need to shoot something," he shrugged.

"Plus, you never know when a gun close-by could come in handy" he added. I nodded in understanding as I looked away into the distance, scanning over the area.

"The target?" I asked him, turning back to face him.

He handed me the sniper and he returned to the case and unloaded a small box. Placing the case on the ground, he quickly opened the box and revealed 'slugs'

Incase you don't know, 'slugs' are small capsules filled with brightly coloured, harmless liquid, which are used for moving target practice. The liquid is a way of telling you if you hit the target or not, since the sound of your weapon of choice usually silences the breaking of the capsule glass.

"Are we even allowed to do this?" I asked, though I couldn't help but show a smile on my face.

"Maybe. All I know is, the police station had spares so I decided to put them to good use" he shrugged, picking up a slug and throwing it up and down in his hand.

"Well, let me warn you: I'm lethal when it comes to snipers" I boasted.

"We'll see," he said, catching the slug in his hand.

"Ready?' he asked as I aimed the sniper in a general direction.

"Do it," I said as I saw him do a run-up in the corner of my eye before lobbing it into the air. Quickly, I zoomed into the capsule; reflexively pulling the trigger as the capsule exploded in mid-air, releasing bright green liquid.

"Yes" I whispered in victory as I turned smugly to the turian.

"Not bad, not bad. Now, let me show you how a professional does it" he said, taking the rifle as I moved past him and picked up one of the slugs.

"We'll see," I quoted his earlier phrase before an idea popped into my head, making me grin. Without indication, I quickly threw it in the air and over the bridge. Since he was still getting the sniper ready, he rushed into position; lifting the rifle's scope to his eye as he immediately pulled the trigger, just managing to hit the slug as the bright purple liquid exploded mid-air and fell into the Thames.

"Good shot" I nodded, taking pride in the accusing glare being shot in my direction.

"A warning might've been nice" he commented, passing the rifle back.

"A 'professional' doesn't need a warning" I retorted as he past me, grabbing a slug.

"You're right," he said. Suddenly, he threw the slug over, making me rush into position as I instinctively shot the rifle.

It missed.

I lowered the rifle, watching the slug drop into the Thames as I felt a hand patting my shoulder.

"I guess this proves that we're on different skill levels" he mocked me as he took the rifle from my hands and placed it next to the slugs. He probably didn't want m to shoot him for mocking me. I guess he didn't trust me yet either.

"Bastard" I glared at him as he turned around and lifted his hands in defense

"Come on, now. It's just a friendly game" he continued to jest, as I couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, then. Let's play a game: first one to miss a slug loses" I suggested as he crossed his arms.

"The prize?" he asked as I decided to risk it; God knows why.

"Information" I stated as he lifted a turian eyebrow in surprise.

"Hmm, and here I was certain you wouldn't tell me anything," he said.

"What would happen if I didn't?" I asked him, more out of curiousity than anything.

"I'd find another source" he replied, making me confused.

"So if I didn't say anything, you'd leave me alone about it?" I continued to ask.

"Yes" he replied quickly, watching for my reaction.

I remained silent, deep in thought as I processed this information.

"You're definitely the best source to get this information from, but I'm just letting you know I've always got a Plan B" he explained.

'So I never have to say anything to him? Do I even want to say anything to him?' I thought as I shook my head, deciding to risk it all.

"Al right then,' I said, lifting a hand.

"Deal?" I asked as he quickly grabbed my hand and shook it, leaving me no room for second thoughts.

"Deal," he said. Dropping my hand, I pushed past him as I picked up the rifle and the slug.

"Information's the bet" I finished, chucking him a slug as I held the rifle in a comfortable position.

"Agreed" he said as we both readied ourselves for the competition.

I lost.


	24. The Feros Landing

I felt myself smiling as I began to waken: realizing how happy that day was, even though I was mortified at the time, considering I lost and then had to give up information. I'm nothing if not an honest woman. I could never be able to thank Garrus for the chance he gave me, as I will never be able to thank Kaidan for life off of Earth, but that's another story for another day. I suppose I should get-

"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep…"

My eyelids flew open in startled shock as anger and irritation immediately followed.

'Ok. That's it' I yelled in my mind as I catapulted myself off the bed and began searching my room for that GODDAMN ALARM CLOCK.

"I swear when I find it…" I mumbled as I began examining every nook and cranny in the room.

5 minutes later

Making a beeline to the galaxy map, I brushed off all passes at conversation and weird/curious looks thrown at me during my journey as I made my way up the stairs to see Jane examining the galaxy map before turning around, obviously hearing the loud beeping noise of the newly-discovered clock, hidden so cleverly in a small gap between my dresser and the wall.

Without giving her time to react, I immaturely threw the clock on the ground, hearing it smash into pieces as the noise died with the clock.

Ignoring everyone's surprised and worried looks, I glared at my sister.

"Keep it," I growled as I made my way back down the stairs, leaving the room as silent as it has ever been.

Still feeling tired; I entered the elevator and sent it down to the crew quarters. The second the doors opened, I left the elevator and opened the room door, remembering to shut it and walk to the bed before collapsing in pure bliss.

Suddenly, Joker's voice interrupted the bliss.

"Uh, Lily…I've kinda guessed you not in a good mood, but…we're arriving at Feros in a few minutes…just letting you know" he mumbled the last part quickly before finishing his message.

I groaned but obediently sat up and stretched the kinks in my body, quickly getting changed into some fresh clothes before sending the crumpled pile of clothing down the Clothes Washer tunnel leading to the lower decks.

I'm one of the few people in the crew who have one of these in their rooms; everyone else has to use the public one in the corridors.

I entered my bathroom; turning on the tap in the sink and splashed water on my face, trying to remove whatever sleep there was in my eyes. Quickly brushing my teeth, hair and adding a hint of makeup to freshen up my face, I left the room altogether and headed down the corridor, only to bump into an unlikely friend.

"Pressley" I said in confusion before offering a hand to the ship's navigator, who was surprisingly not navigating the ship. I say surprising because I rarely see him leave his station; he practically works 24/7. I momentarily forgot my anger at Jane and the alarm as he replied with a firm but gentle handshake.

"Lieutenant: the reason I had to leave my post to clean your mess" he replied gruffly. I apologized but he just brushed it off nonchalantly, most likely forgetting the incident.

"Well, it's good to see you again, Pressley. I haven't spoken to you in ages" I commented, to which he just shrugged.

"Yea, I suppose there is more interesting company onboard," he added. I shook my head repeatedly.

"No, no. That's not what I meant at all" I assured him as I noticed we were heading closer and closer to the elevator at the end of the corridor.

He hmphed in reply as we entered the elevator and rode it up into the mess hall.

"I understand. You've spent so much time with the aliens that you forgot about the humans on board" he added, making me shake my head even more.

"No, it's just that I never find the time, honestly" I said as the doors opened.

"Back to work" he ended the conversation and left the elevator. I sighed, thinking this day can only get worse, and after having a chat with Jane at the galaxy map, they can: apparently, the council had received reports of geth in the Feros system before the colony lost contact.

'Why couldn't we go anywhere nice for a change' I thought to myself as I strapped the last of my weapons on my person as Jane and I stood next to each other at our lockers.

"So who's coming with us?" I asked Jane, who just smiled.

"Let's just say this'll be a team-building exercise" she replied. I eyed her cautiously before noticing Garrus walk up next to be and began strapping on his guns from his locker.

"Are you coming with us?" I asked him.

"Upset?" he replied as he grabbed his assault rifle and attached it to his back.

"No, but you look like it" I retorted as he looked towards the elevator.

As if he timed it, the elevator doors opened, revealing an armed and armoured Kaidan.

I opened my eyes wide as I turned to face my sister.

"Are you serious? They hate each other! Do you want them to kill each other?" I asked her, panicked.

"This is payback for destroying my clock" she smirked as continued to stare at her.

"You're crazy" I shook my head, already anxious for this mission to be over and done with. I know I told Jane I would focus on the mission and not on Kaidan and Garrus but this doesn't make it easy.

"I just know when to have a laugh" she replied before a noise was heard above us.

"Feros insight, Commander. Docking now" he stated before ending the message.

"Let's go," she said as we all entered the elevator, with me acting as a barrier between Garrus and Kaidan. I could literally feel the tension brewing between these two.

Feeling complete relief as we exited the elevator, we remained in dead silence as we walked up the stairs, past the galaxy map and out of the doors, leading onto the docking bay.

I really hate you, sis.

I felt extremely awkward and unsettled as we left the Normandy. It wasn't just the thought of just having Garrus and Kaidan near each other; it was also the fact that this place was just so quiet: it was like everyone just left the planet altogether.

"I don't like this" I told Jane honestly, who just nodded and continued to scan the area before her eyes focused.

"We're not alone" she stated.

I turned my head, following her eye's direction, only to be unnerved by one man's blank stare towards us. He didn't move a muscle as he stood there, carrying a single pistol and wearing less-than-sufficient armour. If this man was expecting an attack, he wasn't prepared for it.

Cautiously, we continued our walk towards him, never breaking his stare.

"We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak to you immediately" he said, with no introduction.

"Expecting trouble?" Jane asked, eyeing the pistol.

"Please. Up the stairs, past the freighter" he said, ignoring Jane and pointing behind.

"What's-" I tried to asked before being shoved back.

"Look out!" Kaidan yelled as he pushed Jane and me out of the line of fire, leaving the man open to the red rocket, which quickly made short work of him.

"Geth!" Garrus yelled, taking cover behind one of the wall posts in the docking bay and pulling out his assault rifle.

Kaidan and Jane took cover behind one of the many shipping crates around the dock. It was like the people living here knew a fight would happen.

Using the group's firepower as a distraction, I sprinted over to Garrus, taking out my rifle and positioned myself next to him.

We each took turns using the cover: one of us would try taking out the geth while the other would reload their weapons and apply first aid if needed. With that rocket launcher at the other end of the docking bay, it was a good idea we upgraded our medi-gel carrier to carry more when out in the field. I'll have to remember to thank the Doc when I see her.

The fight lasted longer than it normally would, mainly due to the suicidal tactic of a charge attack, putting Jane's specialty to no use as well as shotguns and pistols.

Sniper rifles were out of the question, due to the fact you'd be blown up before having the chance to aim accurately.

The only effective gun was the assault rifle and it rarely hit them because of the distance.

I think the only times we did some damage is with Kaidan's biotics but they were few and far between to do any lasting damage.

"Kaidan, get help from the ship!" Jane nearly screamed at Kaidan as he slowly backed towards the ship.

Suddenly, distant bullets were fired as the geth turned to face another attacker before being blown to bits.

Even the one with the rocket launcher didn't have a chance to fire before its head was blown off. The bodies dropped to the ground as electric arcs surrounded it for a few moments before dissipating. It was probably the geth's self-destruct protection program that deletes all traces of data and information from the geth's software.

The sounds of high-heels soon followed their deaths as a slender figure wearing high-heeled boots and a white uniform, which revealed a part of her chest, along with black sleeves, which covered her hands and only leaving her fingers white.

She had flowing black hair, which hid her face as she bent down to examine the geth.

Walking next to me, Jane curiously but cautiously took a few steps in front of the group before lifting a fist to her mouth, coughing to get the girl's attention.

She didn't seem to hear her at first before she suddenly stood up and turned to face us.

Pale ice blue eyes stared at us while a small smile appeared on her glossy lips.

"Hello, Commander Shepard. My name's Miranda Cage. We've been expecting you," she said, slowly walking towards us. She inspected all of us before her eyes rested on Jane.

"Expecting us?" she questioned.

"We saw you ship land. When you took too long, I was asked to investigate," she explained.

"You don't look like you're from here," Jane stated, crossing her arms.

"Observant. I was sent here to do a…study, if you will. Classified, I'm afraid" Miranda told us.

"Fancy way of telling us to mind our own business" Kaidan butted in as Miranda casted her eyes at him, only for them to fall onto the Alliance symbol on his chest

"Indeed" she replied before returning to Jane.

"Well, then. I doubt you want to stay here much longer. Follow me, I'll take you to the main colony…what's left of it" she mumbled the ending as we followed her off the docking bay.

I watched her as she walked, completely untrusting towards her. I turned to look at Jane as I waved my hand to catch her interest.

She turned to me questionably as I motioned for her to slow down. Eventually understanding, we slowed down until we were at least a few feet away from her.

"Do you trust her?" I asked Jane.

"Not in the slightest" she replied before stopping to a halt, staring in front of her.

I turned my head away from Jane to stare shocked at the amount of wreckage and chaos surrounded us.

In the corner of my eye, Miranda turned to face us. Her face was completely void of emotion to this pitiful scene.

"Welcome to Feros, Commander Shepard. As you can tell, they're in a spot of trouble" she commented before turning back to the scene.

"So far, I'm the only reason they haven't all died yet, so they're completely lucky my employer didn't overlook this place. With your help, we might be able to deal with the problem" Miranda said, looking out at the colony.

"Who is your employer again?" Kaidan asked as a tug on Miranda's cheek showed a smile.

"Didn't mention him," she said before the smile disappeared and we were lead into the colony.

Basically, it was like a pile of caravans, one on top of the other, forming a sort of tower in the center while being surrounding by other caravans, all at different heights.

Large, elevated metal platforms paved roads inside and around the construction while also leading off towards a large doorway into a more concrete-style tower and an elevator, leading to god-knows-where.

By the looks of it, the colony construction looks like its separated into different sections but that's just the outside.

A large, black drain-like pipe surrounded the edges of the outer roads; molding into archway over the elevator, doorway and the entrance the docking bay before disappearing into an enlarged hole in the ground below the elevated roads.

Now add a mass of rubble and dirt and you have the perfect picture of the colony.

As we passed under the arched pipe, the sound of water passed over our heads, which made me beg the question if it was a water network or a sewage system.

Normally, I'd say the colony was average and looked like a standard system of living, except for the various, quick-built barricades around the facility and the heavily-armed 'guards' behind them, along with the previously mentioned dirt and rubble.

The guards were the same as the man who met us at the docks, except these people carried rifles, not pistols, and wore basic-set armour. It still wasn't enough for a full-on attack but able to withstand a few hits, at least.

They all watched us as we entered the facility, eyes pained but hopeful at the sight of our weapons and armour.

A few glared at the sight of the Alliance symbols, and in turn glared at Kaidan, who was too distracted to notice.

"Hopefully they're not too picky on who helps them," I whispered to Garrus who nodded in agreement.

As we were walking past the construction, a mass of faces peered out of the windows, staring at us as we walked by: many of them had smiles on their faces while the rest stared blankly at our presence. All of them stood silently; no noise apart from our footsteps echoed around the area.

"Anyone get the feeling of being watched?" Garrus lightly joked behind us, probably as unnerved by their stares as I was.

Hearing grunting, I turned to see a woman with a wrench hacking away a type of electrical system, probably trying to get the thing to work.

When she wasn't grunting, she was mumbling to a woman pressing on the controls next to the pipe.

"This place looks barely running" Jane commented.

"Trust me, it isn't. I would have left by now but my employer told me to stay until the job was done" Miranda explained.

"So you care nothing for these people at all? What if they die-" I began asking.

"They're already dead" Miranda killed the conversation as we stopped in front of two people talking before ending the conversation at the sight of us.

"Miranda" the man nodded at her as she replied.

"Are these the ones who landed?" he asked, walking away from the woman and standing next to her.

"I doubt you need me to answer," she said before walking off.

"Miranda, I-" he tried to speak but she was too far to hear.

"She does odd jobs, here and there. I can't tell if she's bored or if she doesn't like people telling her what to do" he told us.

"Seems like the person who follows her own rules" Jane added.

"Seems like your best friend" I joked but the glare from Jane silenced me.

"What's the situation?" Jane asked him, turning away from me.

"Geth!" the woman shouted in front of us, aiming her rifle at the large doorway.

'Geth? Nearly forgot about them, honestly' I thought as I took out my rifle and aimed at the doorway, which was slowly being illuminated in white and red light.

Naturally, the red lights were targeting lasers while the white light came from their headlights.

Within seconds, their bodies came into view before bullets showered them from the guns of scared-witless colonists and us.

After a few more lucky shots from Jane's shotgun, the man from before turned to us, his pistol still drawn.

"Please, we can talk later, but we need to clear the tower to ensure the safety of our families" he practically begged us as Jane had the common indecency to roll her eyes.

"Because it's Geth, I'll do it. I hate being side-tracked" she replied, mumbling the end, before motioning us to follow her into the ruins.

Jane led us while I took the rearguard, leaving Kaidan and Garrus walking next to each other. At least from this position, I could keep an eye on both of them; their forms tense for being in the same vicinity as each other as we walked down the short corridor and began our trek up the flights of stairs higher into the tower. Nothing particularly interesting highlighted itself along our route as my eyes soon drifted around the room in boredom, my mind lost in thoughts. Not exactly the best attitude for a rearguard, but what's the worst that could-

My thoughts were soon cut short as a loud noise echoed throughout the chamber. I sighed, knowing I should never have tempted fate, before Kaidan spoke up.

"What was that?" he asked. We searched around us, weapons aimed. Silence overtook the noise as I assumed whatever the thing was had left.

I turned around to share my thoughts with them before being slammed into the stairs, a heavy weight on my back.

Bullets were shot as I felt the thing push off from me, forcing the air out of me.

Hearing more bullets and a final crash, I lifted my head to see the body of a Geth jumper on the ground.

"Why do they hate me?" I asked no one as Kaidan grabbed my arm and hoisted me off the ground.

"Thanks" I nodded brushing myself off.

"If you're done playing with the geth, Lily, are we ready to continue?" Jane asked impatiently, though I could tell by the smirk she found this amusing.

I was about to retort before the sound happened again, except this time the jumper leaped onto the wall instead of me.

It seemed to be 'growling' at Jane as she just lifted her shotgun and blew its head off.

"I hate this planet," she grumbled before turning and walking off, shotgun in hand.

We all looked at each other before eventually following Jane further into the tower.

The way was quiet, until a loud, booming voice begged whoever heard.

"Help me, anyone, please!" A man's voice yelled in front us as we looked to see a man aiming a rifle at the doorway in front of him before a red light flashed out of the door and hit him, followed by a small explosion, confirming it was a rocket.

Luckily, it seemed they hadn't heard us since they didn't appear out of the doorway where we couldn't hide due to it being a staircase with absolutely no cover.

"Kaidan, we need you" Jane nodded at the doorway.

He looked at her confused before I mimed a bowl, making him realize as his body glowed blue before erecting a barrier around Jane.

Walking towards the door, she reloaded her shotgun before entering the next room. Bullets and explosions lit up and echoed throughout the room as we stood in wait for her to finish.

I stared at Kaidan worried: he may have looked fine but it didn't take a genius to know how draining it is to support a barrier around someone who isn't you since the adrenaline probably makes it easier to support yourself more than others. Also, a barrier caught under heavy or constant fire, as you could guess, takes _a lot _more.

I kept asking if he was all right but he just kept saying he'd 'walk it off'.

"I wouldn't worry, I'm sure his pride won't allow him to be _really_ hurt" Garrus commented, eyes lazily scoping the room.

"No, you just wouldn't worry" Kaidan argued.

"What he means is you'll be fine" I translated, slapping Garrus lightly on the shoulder.

He shrugged, with a 'what?' look on his face as I noticed Kaidan give a cocky grin behind me.

'Bloody men' I rolled my eyes before the noises stopped and Jane walked back inside; the bright purple barrier dissipating around her.

"What took you so long?" I asked her.

"I just decided to deal with the group myself," Jane said, walking past us.

"You do know we could've come to help, right?" Garrus asked her.

"Doesn't matter" Jane shrugged it off, making me shake my head at her. She just seemed to disregard everything since we landed on Feros. I'm probably looking too deeply into it but something is definitely bothering her. Call it 'sister intuition', if you want.

"Come on, let's tell the others it's safe. For the moment, at least" Kaidan said as we followed Jane's lead back down the flights of stairs and the corridor before reaching the colony, and to bump into a familiar face.

"Miranda" I nodded at the raven-haired woman walking towards us.

"Lieutenant" she nodded before turning to Jane.

"Are the Geth dealt with?" she asked her.

"The main group is but there may be some stragglers" Jane replied honestly.

"Good. Makes my job easier" She replied before walking into the corridor.

"What job?" Kaidan asked curiously, making her job.

"I've just received an interesting tip-off which will hopefully prove useful to finding the reason I'm here" she explained before continuing.

"I thought you were here to do a study," Jane stated more than asked. Either she didn't hear or didn't feel the need to reply; she walked up the stairs without another word.

"Something tells me we'll see her again very soon" Garrus commented as Jane brushed it off casually before walking towards the man.

"Aren't we going to follow her?" Kaidan asked.

"What she does is her business" Jane evaded his question quickly before introducing herself to the man. I think his name was Fai Dan?

"Are the Geth dealt with?" 'Fai Dan' asked us.

"The tower is secure, yes" she replied. He smiled weakly.

"Finally, some good news" he said before his eyes drooped.

"I'm afraid we can't spare any resources right now" he told us before putting a hand in his pocket and pulling out a keycard.

"This will probably prove more useful to you than us. It unlocks the elevator inside the tower, which leads the skyway above us. We used to travel between the colony and ExoGeni headquarters," he explained as Jane took the card without hesitation.

"It's also where you'll find the geth dreadnought," he added.

"So, what's that elevator for?" I asked curiously, pointing to the small elevator hidden to the side of the colony. Barricades and 'Do Not Enter' signs, and also two guards to the left and right of the barricade's circular wall around the door surrounded it.

"That leads to the catacombs under the colony. Most of our resources like food and water depend on us venturing down there but the place is overrun with Varren and geth. We've managed to hold off on what little supplies we have up here but eventually we'll have to organize a group to go back down there" he explained to us.

"Maybe we can help-" Kaidan offered but was silenced by Jane.

"We have a mission, Alenko" Jane affirmed as she nodded at the man.

"We'll head for the skyway immediately" Jane exclaimed before turning away and walking off.

I shrugged apologetically at the man before following my sister, but not before noticing the sad eyes of the people watching me through the windows.

"Thanks, God. Bring on the guilt-trip, why don'tcha?" I mumbled earning an understanding pat on the back from Kaidan.

"I'm sure we'll be able to help them when we get back" Garrus assured me as we followed Jane back into the tower.

"Come on, we're wasting time" Jane yelled behind her, irritated.

'What's with her today?' I thought astounded as we headed towards the elevator and huddled up inside before the door closed, leading us up into the skyway.


	25. The Internal Conflict

"Uh Commander…. we're losing your signal over here" he told us before static emitted from Jane's Omni-tool.

"We're detecting unusual interference from-" Shiva began to explain before more static interrupted her the higher the elevator went.

"Shiva?" I tried talking to her through the static.

"Command-" Static cut off all their voices as the transmission ended due to connection problems.

"Well, that can't be good" Garrus stated as the elevator slowed to a halt.

Not a second after the doors opened, stray bullets flew inches past our faces as they embedded themselves into the back wall.

"Cover!" Jane yelled as we leapt towards a fate-placed barrier in front of the elevator doors.

"What the hell's going on?" Kaidan yelled as I took a peek past the barrier.

Several colonists were aligned along a poorly placed barricade as geth teams tried to flank their positions.

I noticed one of the colonists was close by and tried to call him over.

He hesitated but slowly responded to my call as he came over to us.

"Get your people into the elevator, we'll cover you" I told him.

"Oh, yes, let's get rid of a perfect distraction we could use so all the geth focus on us. Brilliant plan!" Jane sarcastically smiled as if the idea was ingenious.

"Not the time, Jane!" I growled behind me as the man smiled in appreciation before slowly returning to the group and ordered them into the elevator.

We tried our best to give covering fire; to get their attention long enough so that they could escape.

Most of them miraculously managed to make it to the elevator. Only a few stray bullets killed off a few of the colonists trying to help the rest escape.

In relief, the elevator doors shut, sealing the others off as I could hear the elevator travel back down to the colony. Finally, we could focus fully on the geth.

That relief soon expired as I noticed the colonist from before heading towards us.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be on the elevator!" I yelled at him as he shot at the geth before crouching next to me.

"I stayed to help defend" he smiled enthusiastically at me as he peeked past the barrier at the geth. He obviously wanted to prove himself.

"You should have left the geth for us to deal with" I told him as he paused from shooting at the geth and turned to face me.

"No offence, but this is my colony and I'll defend it to the end" he stated seriously.

Suddenly, a sniper shot resonated in the room as the man slowly collapsed onto the floor. A bleeding, gaping hole revealed itself on his forehead and the frozen look of surprise on his face stared at me.

I turned away, disgusted, as I tried my best to focus on the horde of geth instead of the man's death face.

"Screw this!" Jane yelled randomly as she immediately stood up and put her foot on the barricade.

"Cover me!" She screamed out her order as she jumped over the barrier, shooting madly at any geth in her path.

"Are you suicidal?!" I screamed at my rampaging sister, panicked and worried for her overall safety. Normally, I'm okay with this because I know she can handle it but what got me worried was the amount of geth shooting at her. To say there was a lot would be the biggest understatement of the century.

It wasn't soon before the familiar flicker of blue around Jane told me her barriers were down.

"Jane, get to cover!" I yelled, trying to distract them so she could get to safety, which is difficult when said sister is charging them directly.

One eventually came with a rocket launcher, aiming at her.

"JANE, GET DOWN!" I screamed my lungs out, shooting every single round in my assault rifle at the geth.

Everyone, including a few of the geth, were startled by the sudden scream but quickly resumed the fight.

"That's it," I said agitated before turning to the others.

"Kaidan, I want you to cover the barricade over there and focus your biotics on breaking the geth shields" I ordered him as he nodded before preparing to head over there.

"Garrus, I want you to give Kaidan some covering fire and, after he reaches the barricade, I want you to head to the corner over there and hide in the sealed off area. Try and snipe as many geth as you can" I ordered him as I turned in Jane direction, who still hadn't reached cover but, instead, Kaidan used his Omni-tool to recharge her shields.

"Jane, since you're so intent on dying, she if you can take out the rocket launcher geth over there and take his weapon. I'm sure you can guess what to do then," I yelled over the bullets as she smiled.

"I love your plan" she grinned as she made her way towards the rocket launcher, finally taking cover every time it was about to shoot.

Needless to say, she reached the rocket launcher and, from now on, I am _never _letting her do that again.

Poor Garrus was mistaken for an enemy sniper, or at least, that's what I tell myself so I can trust her near him.

The battle ended much quicker after that; the smoke of the gun's barrels overheating rose into the air as I nearly ran to my sister, who watched the body of a headless geth drop to the floor before sheathing her shotgun.

"What were you thinking?!" I nearly screamed into her face.

"What? You've seen me do that loads of times" she shrugged, probably confused about my sudden concern.

"You've never jumped over a barricade into an intense battle zone and charge into a bloody platoon of geth!" I told her as she rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, I'm fine" she waved me off as I gaped at her before sighing deeply; pressing my forehead into the knuckles of my left hand while gripping my forearm with my right hand.

"You're going to be the death of me, I know it" I sad angrily before dropping my arms completely.

"Can we just try to get off this planet before you do another fatal charge, please?" I nearly begged her as she sighed in annoyance before turning and walking away from me.

"She'll listen to you eventually, don't worry" Kaidan patted my back before following Jane.

"Either that or she'll wind up dead" I mumbled before turning my head back to the colonist, whose eyes locked with mine.

Suddenly, his body morphed into Jane's; her eyes lifeless as her body laid crippled on the ground as bullet holes decorated her body in patterns.

I gripped my head, shaking it violently. The last thing I need right now is to be thinking of that, especially that.

Footsteps sounded in front of me as I looked up to see Garrus nodded towards the others.

"Let's go," he said quietly, pushing me gently towards the others.

I took one more sad look back at the colonist before my eyes hardened at the sight.

'Breaking down in sadness won't help you or protect Jane. Just keep going' a voice advised in my head before I subconsciously nodded in agreement, turning to the others and walking away with my head held high.

There's no way in hell Jane is ending up like him. I won't allow it.

"Okay, people. Look for anything useful in the rubble before we head out onto the skyway towards ExoGeni HQ" Jane ordered as the others scattered around the area.

My eyes went past Jane's figure as they settled on a distant object, covered in dust and, surprisingly, vines.

"What's that?" I nodded towards it as Jane turned to it.

"Hmm…It looks like some sort of Mako, but…I've never seen them that size before" Jane commented.

"It doesn't look old…the rubble might've been fallen debris from the geth attack" Kaidan suggested before Jane ordered him to put a shield around it to remove the ruins surrounding it.

Immediately after, the familiar blue tint encircled the object as the rubble clattered onto the floor, creating a thick dust cloud.

I used my hands to blow away the dust as after a few more seconds, the dust settled, revealing an odd-shaped carrier.

It looked similar to the Mako, but the schematics were completely different.

"What the hell is it?" Garrus asked as Jane hovered her Omi-tool over the device as an orange light scanned it.

Moments later, it beeped as Jane took one look at the results before her eyebrows knitted together.

"What?" I asked.

"Guess who" she said before presenting the results, showing an all-too familiar black and orange symbol.

"Cerberus" I glared as the human terrorist's logo shone brightly within the table of results.

"What's Cerberus doing here?" Kaidan asked.

"Seems Miranda was holding out on us" Jane stated as she continued to scan the results.

"Hmm…it says it's a M57 Hammerhead. It has no shields, only armour, but it has an auto-repair function and a missile launcher. The other data's classified" Jane said before staring up at the machine.

"Admirable: proves that shields aren't needed to get the job done" Jane stated, admiring the Hammerhead before Garrus interrupted.

"But if you're under constant fire, the armour wouldn't last long" Garrus pointed out.

"Plus, if you're going out into a hot zone, it wouldn't survive" Kaidan added, surprisingly agreeing with Garrus, for once.

"Sounds like a match made in heaven" I joked, earning a side glare from Jane.

"It's not for heavy-duty. It's most likely for doing research in otherwise unsafe areas," Jane explained.

"Perfect for Miranda's study then, whatever the hell it is," Garrus stated.

"Then if she's gone, and this is here, does it means she has two here?" I thought aloud.

"Probably this one got buried in rubble and got a replacement for it" Kaidan told me.

"So a Cerberus ship shows up and no one seems to notice, or care, about why they're here," Garrus added.

"It probably just me, but…did they seem a bit…odd to you?" Kaidan asked Jane.

"What do you mean?" I questioned him.

"Well, the blank stares, no talking… I don't think they even blinked" Kaidan explained as I thought back to the experience with the colony.

"Brilliant: first geth attack, then Cerberus, now a psycho colony. I don't know about you but I'll feel safer in the Hammerhead" Jane interrupted, agitated, as she opened the door.

"Does it even work?" I asked Jane as she shut the door.

The rest of us waited silently for the Hammerhead to start, or for Jane's disappointed face to appear in front of us.

It was only then that I noticed the absence of wheels underneath it.

I nudged Kaidan next to me and nodded at the Hammerhead.

"What?" he asked, earning Garrus's attention.

"Anyone else notice it doesn't have wheels?" I asked them as they both scanned the Hammerhead's underbelly.

"Then how does it-" Kaidan began before a sudden cloud of dust blew towards us as we all held our arms in front of us in reflex.

As soon as the dust settled, we stared in awe as the Hammerhead started to…hover?

I could practically see Jane grinning inside the machine as she started to steer it in circles before halting in front of us.

She opened the door as she waved towards her.

"Come on, then" she said before settling back inside.

"Why am I doing this?" I sighed before edging towards it as I cautiously climbed inside.

It was exactly what I thought it would be: cramped. In a way, it was like an extremely compacted cockpit, no room for movement at all.

I managed to scramble to the front next to Jane before examining the inside. The rubble did some damage to the inside as pieces of the metal littered the floor along with a few disconnected wires. The lack of a spark managed to convince me it had no power but I was in no willing mood to test it.

A few moments later, Kaidan climbed inside and took the seat behind me, allowing Garrus to get inside.

Or try too.

"Come on, Garrus. A little to the left" I tried guiding him as the curved armour at the back protecting his 'natural shield', as I like to call it, forced Garrus to awkwardly position himself inside.

"We could always make him walk" Kaidan suggested.

"You're the one with the biotic shield: you walk" Garrus retorted, earning an eye roll from Kaidan.

"You do realize it doesn't last for long under fire?" Kaidan asked, speaking to Garrus like a child.

"Oh, I knew that" Garrus smugly commented.

"Jane, can we leave before they do any more damage to this thing?" I begged her as she started the engine again as we felt it lift off the ground and started to head towards the door.

"I still think this thing needs shields…" I began, worried as noises behind the exit grew louder.

"It won't be that bad" Jane said as the door automatically opened, revealing dreadful irony.

"What was that, Jane? We didn't need shields?" I turned to her as she glared in front of her.

"Kaidan, put a barrier around the Hammerhead" she ordered Kaidan.

"Yes, Commander. But it won't last long under fire" he said as he surrounded the machine in a blue orb.

"Then we won't get hit, problem solved" Jane replied quickly.

"At least I'm wearing a helmet," I thought optimistically as I pushed myself into the corner of the seat, blindly thinking that doing so would prevent me from being hurt by Jane's driving.

"Alright, let's go" Jane said as she began to drive down the geth-surrounded skyway, completely covered head to foot in rocket-launcher geth, geth destroyers and armatures…okay, I lied. Jane wasn't driving.

She was racing.

"How did you get your driver's license?" I grumbled as she nearly threw us over the edge of the skyway, narrowly avoiding the body of a colossus.

"Who said I got one?" she stated more than joked as I pushed myself further into the side of the Hammerhead.

"What's worse: a horde of geth, or being in a car you're driving?" I asked her as we tackled a destroyer, making it fly over the edge as we drove into masses of geth bodies.

"Why do you try so hard to kill us?" I joked as she miraculously managed to kick me.

"I'm trying to concentrate, so shut it," she growled as her eyes scanned over the area.

"How did people even drive across this?! Half of these roads are going nowhere; some are just taking me in circles. Look: there's one doing a bloody loop-de-loop!" she yelled frustrated as I started to actually take her more seriously.

"Jane, are you alright?" I asked her. She was literally a ticking bomb and she was reaching the end of her fuse.

She didn't reply as she continued to growl at the geth, spinning around the corner and stopping at the edge of the skyway before speeding off down another road.

"Jane…" I said tentatively as she continued to glare out the car window.

No reply.

"Jane?" I asked more confidently, touching her shoulder lightly.

No reply.

"Jane" I said, shaking her shoulder.

No reply.

"Uh, Commander?" Kaidan asked, trying to help gain her attention.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she stamped on the break.

The Hammerhead nearly flipped over as the sudden halt through everyone forward, a chorus of groans following.

In front of us, a large metallic door with the recognizable ExoGeni logo glowed dimly above it.

I turned to see Jane stiff and unmoving, eyes still wide as she breathed deeply.

"Jane, you're scaring me," I said worriedly as she simultaneously snapped back to reality.

"I'm fine," she said before ordering everyone out of the machine.

Knowing better than to refuse, Garrus opened the door as they both jumped out, leaving only Jane and me in the hover car.

"Jane, are you alright?" I asked her as she glared forward.

"Get out" she grounded out of her teeth as I slowly crawled out behind her and out of the door.

I looked at the others concerned as we all looked towards the Hammerhead.

Hearing a deep sigh from the hover car, we eventually saw Jane climb out of it after a few moments, looking more calm and collected as she began to walk to the door.

"Jane" I yelled out to her as she slowed to a halt.

"Do me a favor?" she asked as she turned to me. I nodded in agreement.

"Don't ever say I'm trying to kill you again," she asked quietly, almost…vulnerable.

I stared amazed and scared, never in my life seeing Jane in this form before. Also, never seeing her ask this ever, even though I joke about it all the time. I wonder what brought it up…

I slowly nodded in agreement as her trademark cold stare returned with intensity.

"Now get moving, we're wasting time," she told us as we slowly followed her lead into the dark, destroyed tower.

What's wrong with Jane?

Jane

"Why do you try so hard to kill us?" I heard Lily joke beside me as I swiftly kicked her, my patience going down by the second. We were getting nowhere on this bloody road and I swore we were going in circles.

'Haven't I passed that colossus twice now?' I thought as I avoided its purple orbs by spinning around the corner. I turned to Lily, deciding to throw my anger out on her.

"I'm trying to concentrate so shut it" I ordered her as her playful expression slowly died.

I hated yelling at her, she's family after all, but she's used to it from me by now. I mean it's not like I'm scarring her.

My eyes looked away as I scanned the road, trying to find a turning I hadn't gone down yet. Suddenly, a flash of white in the corner of my eye caught my attention before it disappeared.

For some reason, it made me even more frustrated driving along this prothean maze of rubble and dirt.

"How did people even drive across this?! Half of these roads are going nowhere; some are just taking me in circles. Look: there's one doing a bloody loop-de-loop!" I yelled, as the flash of white returned before disappearing again, boiling my blood.

I hated the thought of it being what I thought it was but it probably wasn't, it hadn't happened for months, why would it start now?

"Jane, are you alright?" I heard Lily asked concerned next to me as I managed to growl in response.

Sometimes I hated her concern since it was either not needed or it was too obviously need, making the need to ask the question completely pointless.

Out of nowhere, the bright flash of light glowed in front of the Hammerhead as I managed to swerve in front of it before having to drive down the road since I couldn't see it anymore.

"Jane…" My sister continued as I decided to ignore her, least I lashed out on her.

She didn't get the hint.

"Jane" she asked again, gripping my shoulder as I glared more darkly at the road ahead of me.

"Jane" she asked, shaking my shoulder as I did my best not to throw her off. I was trying to focus on driving and she wasn't helping.

"Uh, Commander?" Kaidan spoke up behind me, as I was about to order them to shut up.

Suddenly, the flash returned in front of me, except this time it confirmed my fear.

I stomped on the break, eyes wide as I stared at its form coming closer and closer.

I felt the other end of the Hammerhead lift slightly as I thought it would flip on us, but I didn't care at the moment.

Slowly, the Hammerhead stopped moving as its body filled with muffled groans from the others.

I remained frozen, lost in my thoughts, as I tried to focus on breathing.

It stayed there, unmoving, until a grin grew on its face.

'Not again' I thought as my heart sank before Lily's voice brought me back, though I didn't catch what she was saying.

"I'm fine," I said, guessing her question was concern for me.

"Everyone out" I ordered sternly as silence followed the command before the noise of the door opening and the shuffling of bodies behind the seat.

Lily didn't move though.

"Jane, are you alright?" she asked as my patience died.

"Get out" I lashed out at her as she slowly crawled out, concern and fear etched on her face.

I turned back to the form, only this time it was directly in front of the Hammerhead.

I shakily took a deep breath as I stared in awe and depression at him.

He continued to grin, a mischievous glint in his pale eyes as he pressed the palm of his hand on top of my head.

"At least _pretend _you're glad to see me," his distant voice echoed in my eyes as I shook my head violently, hiding my face in my hands.

"No, you're a figment of my imagination. You're not real; you died on Torfan" I repeated quietly to myself before lifting my head to see him still there, his grin replaced by a frown and a glare.

"Didn't realize you hated me this much" he said, crossing his arms.

I sighed, the memories flooding my mind.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I whispered, holding back a tear as vulnerability overtook my cold stance.

"So you don't make the same mistake twice" he said sadly before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

I sighed deeply for a few moments before the cold and heartlessness overtook me again, returning my cold glare and erasing the emotion from a few moments ago.

'I swear he does this to me on purpose' I thought as I began to climb out of the vehicle to see the three of them looking at me worriedly.

I straightened myself out as I walked past them and into the building.

"Jane" Lily yelled behind me as I halted my pace.

"Do me a favor?" I said as I turned to see her confused face staring at me.

"Don't ever say I'm trying to kill you again," I asked quietly.

'That's what he'd say' I thought pitifully as she nodded at my request.

Feeling out of character and awkward, I glared at them and ordered them to get moving.

I turned around and sighed again before walking through the doors with more determination and confidence than before.


	26. The End?

We walked in silence as we explored the ruined concrete building of ExoGeni HQ. The echo of falling rocks bounced around the walls as we walked further inside.

I kept glancing at Jane now and then to make sure she was all right.

I had a feeling Jane was…unstable; to put it lightly…but this was extreme, even for Jane.

"So, Commander, where should we start looking?" Kaidan asked, obviously trying to find a way to break the silence.

"Upper levels" the geth dreadnought is at the top of the building. If we're lucky, we'll find a bazooka in range; if not, we'll just have to find a way to disconnect it from the building and make it crash" Jane explained.

"Bazooka?" Garrus asked, confused.

"Missile launcher: a favourite of Jane's" I explained as sudden movement made us fall silent.

"Who's there?" Jane growled, holding up her shotgun.

The shadow froze and appeared to be turning towards us. As it did, it relaxed and walked calmly towards us.

"Commander Shepard. Fancy meeting you here" Miranda smirked as the light of a hanging lamp caught her smile.

"Diddo" I butted in, glaring at the Cerberus operative.

"You can lower your weapons. I won't bite" she joked, crossing her arms and leaning on her right leg.

"But you will shoot" Kaidan retorted.

"If I have too. Sadly, I need to end this conversation. I have business with the colony to deal with" Miranda spoke with authority as she attempted to walk past the group.

"We know who you are, Cerberus" Jane growled, blocking her path.

Miranda sighed, annoyed, as she turned to Jane.

"We're not your enemies, Commander. Believe it or not, we're trying to help you" Miranda explained sincerely.

This gave Jane pause before she slowly lowered her arm.

"Jane, what are you doing?" I gaped at her, stunned.

"Commander, she's Cerberus. You can't let her go" Kaidan added.

"Thank you, Commander. Until we meet again" Miranda yelled behind her as she began to jog towards the Hammerhead.

"Wait, that's-" I was cut off as she jumped in, quickly started it and began to drive off.

I turned, glaring daggers at Jane.

"You just let a Cerberus operative drive off with our vehicle. If the Council finds out-" I yelled at her before she silenced me with a blank stare

"They won't," she confirmed with a voice of certainty as she turned back and continued to walk further into the ruins.

The more Jane spoke to me, the more puzzled I became. What exactly happened in the Hammerhead?

I sighed in annoyance as I continued to follow her across to the other side of the room before we reached a large tunnel leading under a wall.

"There's no way back up" Garrus told us as he examined the depth of the tunnel.

"There's no other way in either" Kaidan argued, examining the rooms and pointing out the security locked doors and the mountains of rocks blocking the others.

"That's it then: we're going down" Jane concluded, jumping in and landing with a grunt before heading forward.

"I hate my job," I mumbled, jumping down before loosing my balance and ending up rolling before managing to stand back up.

I could hear Garrus and Kaidan laugh at my clumsiness behind me as I flushed madly with embarrassment and anger.

"You never were good on your feet, sis" Jane laughed at my embarrassment before the sound of a bullet penetrating her shield resonated down the chamber.

We all turned, guns drawn, to see a girl, no more than 30, shaking with fright while unsteadily gripping the Predator pistol.

"Oh god, I-I'm so sorry. I-I thought you were one of them" she stuttered, aiming at the Varren under our feet.

"Great, I look like a dog" I mumbled, feeling incredibly insulted.

"Well, since you're a girl, she's actually calling you a-" Kaidan tried to joke but an elbow to the stomach stopped him from finishing it.

"Oh come on, that was a good one" he chuckled as I tried to ignore him.

"Anyway…" Jane cut in, turning our attention back to the girl.

"Who are you, exactly? What the hell are you doing here?" Jane interrogated her, as the girl began to slowly calm down, realizing we weren't going to attack her.

"My name's Lizbeth, Lizbeth Baynham. I'm one of the scientists who work here…worked her" she finished, relaxing the longer she realized we were here to help.

"Why are you here?" Kaidan intervened.

"We…received warning…about approaching geth. I stayed behind; I'd hoped I'd be able to recover some data before leaving but the download took longer than expected and, by the time it'd finished, the geth had arrived" Lizbeth explained.

"Talk about dedication" Garrus commented as I nodded in agreement.

"Any idea why the geth are here?" Jane asked as Liz looked away for a second, immediately catching Jane's attention.

"I'd share what you know now if I were you" Jane threatened her.

"Please" I joked, earning a sigh from Jane followed by a mumbled 'you're not helping'

"Look, I…I don't know how to explain it. Here-" she said before handing Jane a keycard.

"The VI upstairs will recognize the key and you'll be able to access files on Species 37" she told us.

"Why can't you tell us now?" Jane asked.

"We don't have the time," she told us, raising her pistol and pointing behind Jane.

We spun around to see a large pack of Varren creeping up of us; teeth bore.

"Touché" Jane agreed, lifting her shotgun as they growled before charging us. In the corner of my eye, I saw Lizbeth sprint away from us, probably finding a place to hide.

I returned to focusing on the pack, noticing their movement was slow and looked exhausting to them. It was for this reason that they were easy to kill as I examined one of the bodies.

"Looks like they haven't eaten in weeks. They were probably killing just about anything for a meal ticket," I concluded as Jane scoffed.

"We should've given them Lizbeth, useless scientist," she mumbled the ending as we all turned to face the only door in the entire room, not including the entrance to the previous tunnel.

"Well then, let's see what's the big deal with Species 37" Jane exclaimed as we all crowded towards the door and entered a tightly packed room with a large, winding staircase.

"Alright: single-file. Kaidan, I want you at the back and your shields to block anything from following us and as a soft landing incase one of us falls" she ordered as Kaidan nodded, stretched his arms as we started to climb.

"I'm not that bad" I mumbled as we slowly ascended up the staircase as a distant voice soon reached our ears.

"What's that?" Garrus questioned as we walked more slowly, trying not to alert our position and to hear the voice more clearly without the banging of footsteps on the metal, echoing stairs.

"Come on, you stupid machine!" a deep voice bounced off the walls.

"It's definitely a man" Jane commented as we walked further up the stairs.

"-I'll blow your virtual ass into actual dust" he spoke again.

"Krogan" we all agreed in chorus as Jane peaked over the platform, leading to the second floor.

"What do you see?" I whispered as she turned back to us.

"Single Krogan: shotgun out…I think he's alone" Jane replied.

"Sneak attack?" I suggested as Jane shrugged, probably not bothered.

We slowly edged ourselves up the final steps as we crept towards the Krogan, trying not to alert him.

The problem is there's not a lot of room around here and Krogan fight their best up close. Luckily, we have Jane.

"I'm sorry, you don't have access to this information" the VI replied calmly.

"Stupid machine!" the Krogan yelled, lifting and shaking his arms in rage.

Jane stepped closer to him as the others and I tried to circle around him but stayed out of eye shot incase the plan backfired.

Jane slowly lifted her shotgun and aimed at his head, trying to make her shot count.

"If you have no further business, will you step to the side? There is a queue forming behind you" the VI motioned to Jane as the Krogan turned to us, confused.

Bugger

It only took me a second before I crushed the trigger under my finger, mentally cursing that VIs timing. The gunfire seemed to send everyone into the frenzy as well: everyone began shooting, hoping he would go down before he manages to do any damaged to us.

Unfortunately, that would only happen if krogan were not excellent up close fighters, which they were: the bulky body being a large sign that there was power in his muscles.

The sounds of bullets seemed to bring life to him as well as a bloodthirsty grin as he quickly started shooting at us, though I doubt he needed to since he could easily crush us or fling us down the staircase.

Fortunately, he didn't seem that smart as he happily walked in the fray of fired shots as they bounced off his shields making him seem like a Christmas tree with its lights exploding in tiny sparkles.

Noticeably, he mostly focused on Jane, seeing as both their combat styles and even their choice of weapons were very similar. The only difference his were more powerful on both comparisons.

Eventually, he soon realized Jane was a lot tougher since she dodged nearly all of his attacks with graceful side rolls. He slowly eyed each of us individually while still shooting at us, identifying that I was one of the weaker ones.

Until he saw Kaidan, that is.

I was preparing to face his attack, either by dodging if he charged or by adding more power to my shields if he kept shooting at me, hoping he'd go for someone else. He did since he turned away from me and turned to face Kaidan.

I don't know if it was his weapons or his armour but something told the krogan that he was the weakest out of the four of us.

He tried to defend against the incoming krogan by using a variety of defensive and offensive biotics like lift and shockwave, which unfortunately took Jane out instead, sending her into the wall behind the VI interface. He tried using Cryo ammo in a vain attempt to freeze him before he could come closer but that barely hindered him as he charged his full body weight into Kaidan's, slamming him into the wall close to the stairs. The krogan rebounded off Kaidan as he collapsed onto the floor, groaning.

"Kaidan!" I yelled, fearful for his safety.

Jane took that moment to charge at the krogan, shooting her shotgun at the back of his armour, probably realizing Kaidan's defenseless position.

Garrus aided in gaining the krogan's attention back to them while I sprinted over to Kaidan's crumpled body.

"Kaidan, where are you injured?" I asked quickly, scanning over his body with the Omni-tool, trying to hurry incase the krogan's attention came back to our vulnerable state.

I was thankful that he'd used Cryo ammo before the krogan tackled him. If he'd used all his power, it probably would have crushed his entire body: a morbid but credible fact.

I doubt Kaidan could take another crushing from the krogan and I doubt adding my body weight into the mix would help much either if he managed to crush me and Kaidan into the wall together.

"Everywhere" he groaned, pulling me away from my thoughts. He sat up and positioning himself so he was supported by the wall.

"Hmm…it looks like you cracked a few ribs. You've also broken your left arm. We'll have to get you to a doctor as soon as possible. We can't risk you puncturing a lung or worse," I explained before grabbing a bottle of pills from a small pack on my pistol belt.

"Here, the aspirin should help" I gave him a few before an echoing thud sounded behind me.

I turned to see the body of the krogan crumpled and heavily bleeding on the floor with Jane and Garrus panting,

"I hate krogan," Garrus stated, using a nearby desk to support him.

"I hate biotics," she said glaring at Kaidan who looked away in embarrassment, nursing his arm as he focused his attention at the krogan's body.

"Next time, watch where you aim," she growled, her mood not lightening up in the slightest.

"You're lucky there's someone I'm more angry at than you," she stated, staring down at the VI.

"Is there something you-" the VI began but I couldn't hear the end over the shot of Jane's shotgun. A large bullet hole was seen through the VI's head as it watched her emotionless.

"Guns on the facility are strictly forbidden except for security staff. Please report to the closest security station for interrogation" he responded, aggravating Jane even more.

"I sympathize with the krogan," she mumbled, understanding his hatred for the machine before turning her attention to the rest of us.

"Can you stand?" I asked Kaidan, wishing that Wrex were here, though I doubt he'd carry someone twice, even if I'd repay him.

"Maybe" he mumbled, grunting as he slowly pushed himself off the wall and onto his knees, his hands pressed against the floor as he awkwardly moved his ribs.

"Why didn't you dodge? You must've saw him charging you" Jane lectured him as he eventually managed to stand.

"I thought my biotics could deal with him" he defended as he tried walking before nearly falling onto the floor again.

"It's always one of us…" Jane groaned as I supported Kaidan, circling my arm behind him, resting my hand on his waist while lifting his right arm and encircling it behind my head and held it down my right side, carrying most of his weight. He gripped his stomach in pain while a look of nausea overtook his facial features due to the sudden movement.

"Well, don't fall behind" Jane ordered, seeming not to notice his pain or just not caring before turning to see the VI

"How can I help you?" the VI repeated against as we all glared at the hologram, Jane and Kaidan especially.

"What did the Doc want us to search for? Species 37?" he asked Jane but the VI was also listening to him.

"What information do you require about Species 37?" he asked us as Jane stepped towards it.

"Well…what is it?" Jane shrugged, figuring it was the best question to ask.

"Species 37 is a sentient plant life growing under Zhu's hope," he explained in basic terms as we all looked at each other.

"Well I failed Biology back on Earth so I'm useless" I commented as Jane asked what sort of 'plant' it was.

"Species 37 is a new plant form recently discovered by ExoGeni scientists working in and around Zhu's hope. There are no records concerning Species 37, but from personal investigations, we've determined that it has capable mind control properties due to the spores it releases. When inhaled, it slowly ascends to the brain where it affect the neural transmissions inside the body, effectively making the host unable to control their actions" he explained in more detail.

"So a new plant with mind control properties is discovered and eventually and army of geth end up on Feros. I'd make a bet, but it'd be pointless" I shrugged as Jane looked deep in thought.

"Who has been infected?" Jane asked, still in thought.

"Zhu's hope" he replied swiftly as Jane turned to us.

"Remember when everyone was staring at us and everyone just stopped what they were doing?" Jane asked as we all nodded, recollecting the eerie atmosphere.

"They…_it _was probably…assessing us to see if we were a threat" I suggested.

"Do you think Miranda knows about this?" Kaidan asked us.

"Well, if it thought she was a threat, they would've probably tried killing her by now" I told him.

"Or maybe it was still assessing her" Jane added.

"Or maybe she's one of them" Garrus retorted before a low, groaning noise sounded above us.

"Please tell me I didn't hear that?" I moaned as we all looked towards the ceiling.

"Unidentified machinery in the premises. Please report to the closest security station for further instruction" the VI informed us as the noise returned, even louder than before. Wires and the body of the krogan began to shake from the sudden movement as small rocks from the ceiling bounced along the floor, making small piles of debris.

"We better hurry" Jane said sternly as we all began to climb the set of stairs next to the VI as I half-dragged Kaidan behind me.

"Need help?" Garrus offered.

"Since when do you want to help Kaidan?" I asked, suspiciously as Garrus's face lit up in realization.

"True. Let's leave him instead," he offered as Kaidan gave off a humorless chuckle.

"Commander, when can we kill the turian?" he cruelly joked as Garrus rolled his eyes.

"When we don't need him anymore" she said seriously as Garrus and Kaidan exchanged looks.

"When we do, can I have his gun?" I decided to play along.

"I'm not dead yet" Garrus told me like he was offended at the thought before the groaning noise shook the walls.

"Yet" I emphasized as we almost ran down the rest of the corridor, only to nearly collide with guess who.

"I wondered where you ran off to," Jane said offhand as Lizbeth slouched in front of us, panting like she'd just run a mile.

"Geth *pant* coming *pant*" she managed to say, pointing down the corridor behind her when, on cue, two geth destroyers rounded the corridor.

"All yours" I said, hiding Kaidan and myself around the corner so we didn't get hit.

Kaidan managed to be a good sport and use biotics with his good arm by throwing warp and singularity and the destroyers and the recently introduced shock troopers.

During the battle, the groaning became more intense as nearly the whole entire ceiling collapsed on top of the remaining geth, scattering computer and desk pieces along the rest of the floor.

"Everyone, move! Now!" Jane yelled as she lifted Kaidan out of my arms and over her shoulder without any sign of struggle. I stared in awe for only a moment before returning to the task at hand: running.

We all quickly maneuvered over the rubble and sprinted down the corridor; Jane lagging behind because of Kaidan's extra weight but surprisingly managed to keep up. I guess the threat of being trapped and crushed under tons of concrete and geth is a motivator in its own right. I let her pass me as I lagged behind incase Lizbeth needed help.

We had difficulty navigating the building at first: most of the hallways were blocked by rubble or were impossible to reach due to the floor being gone.

Masses of geth and human bodies were scattered along the hallways as we passed by without a second glance. Well, except for Lizbeth.

I could tell from a glance that she hated leaving them like that but, like I said before, the threat of a building falling on top of you is a great motivator.

"Hurry!" Jane yelled as another rumble followed by the echo of collapsing floors sounded above us. I tensed every muscle in my legs in hope I could sprint faster as Kaidan struggled on Jane's shoulder, wheezing and gasping since every step Jane took jabbed her shoulder into his stomach.

Suddenly, I ran full power into Jane, almost pushing Kaidan out of her arms.

"We can't carry on…" Jane said ominously as she moved out of the way to show that the rest of the corridor was completely destroyed, leaving a bottomless hole where the floor should've been; seeming to carry on to the base of the building

"What do we do now?" I asked panicked as I searched for any other doors but found none, except for the unreachable doors down the floorless corridor.

"Maybe there's a way out down the corridor we've just gone down?" Kaidan suggested.

"No, I know the building inside and out. We won't reach the other exits in time" Lizbeth explained mournfully.

"So, we're trapped" Garrus finalized as the rumble returned, echoing louder every second that passed. I saw Jane mumbled something to Garrus and Kaidan before they all agreed to something, making me even more nervous.

"Quick: everyone jump!" Jane ordered, taking Kaidan and herself down the hole.

"WHAT!?" Lizbeth yelled as, after a few moments, Garrus quickly pushed Lizbeth down the hole before she could back away.

He turned to me as I put my hands up in a weak defense.

"Don't you dare, turian," I growled as he looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry" he said as he grabbed me and jumped down into the abyss; the rest of the building following us down.

I screamed, my arms tightening around Garrus's neck, nearly choking him as I stared helplessly at the incoming avalanche of concrete and electronics.

"Garrus, if I die…"I yelled over the rubble as he turned to see me.

"Yes?" he asked, nodding for me to continue, as I turned to see him, completely serious.

"I just want you to know…I love you!" I said, the knowledge and heart-pounding fear that we'd both be dead soon managed to stick in my mind and I soon acknowledged this, even though I let a few tears travel down my face at this fact.

He said nothing as he gripped my tighter as we sank into darkness…


	27. The 'Plant'

I wheezed and coughed as the dust clogged my throat as I rolled over onto my stomach, supporting myself with my arms.

"I knew your biotics would come in handy Kaidan" Jane voice sounded behind me.

Turns out the hole lead to the sewers underneath the building's structure. Kaidan apparently used his biotics to lessen the blow as we entered the sewage and put all his energy into forming a barrier to stop the rubble from following.

We had to quickly paddle out of the way so Kaidan could release the barrier.

I laid there shivering from the cold water and the intense anger inside me, boiling my blood.

"Lily?" Jane said behind me as I heard her walk closer and touch my shoulder. I forced my shoulder out of her hand, dragging myself away from her.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled, covering my face under a curtain of hair.

Why didn't they tell me the plan? I thought I was going to die and not once did they try and explain it to me.

Pathetically, I started to cry out of frustration and relief that I was still breathing.

"Are you hurt?" Jane asked, trying to get closer again.

"Get away from me!" I yelled, fueling all my hatred into a glare as I stared Jane down.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused at my anger, making me even more agitated.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! Are you fucking asking me that?!" I yelled, accidentally letting a tear fall down my face before looking away.

"You know what? Never mind" I said, standing up before nearly falling over again. I hissed in pain before realizing I must've fallen on my leg funny.

"Do you need help?" I turned to see Garrus offer a hand. I wanted so badly to take it, to forget about it.

I couldn't: during the fall, he had all the time in the world to explain to me, but no.

I stared at him, hurt, before turning away from him and began to walk off.

"Let's go. I'm done with his place" I mumbled, as the others eventually followed as Jane took the lead, Kaidan limping next to her, while Lizbeth walked next to me and Garrus walked behind.

"I just want my mother," she whimpered as I continued to stare coldly at Jane. Normally, I wouldn't think twice before offering my comfort and support, but I was still too angry to even think about helping someone else. Selfishly, I thought about how I was usually the one helping others, but when I need it, there's no one there.

On the inside, I was crushed about having a near-death experience when there actually wasn't any threat.

On the outside, I was turning into Jane. I couldn't figure out which one was worse.

We followed the endless pathways along the sewers before a light glowed at the other end of the tunnel.

"Looks like we've found an exit" Jane said, happily, but I was too lost in my thoughts to show any emotion whatsoever.

After a few more minutes, we exited into the light to see that we were on the prothean skyway and the garage where we came from was almost next to us.

Suddenly, Jane's Omni-tool glowed as an incoming transmission came through.

"Commander, finally. I've been trying to reach you for hours" Joker relieved voice echoed out for the Omni-tool.

"We're fine, Joker…nothing major" Jane said, turning to look at me as I turned away, instinctively, not wanting to even look her in the eyes.

"Well, we have a little problem here. It seems like every colonist on his planet is attacking the ship right now" he said slightly panicked as we began walking to the door.

I was barely listening but couldn't help notice a small black ball in the distance. What is that thing?

"We're on our way now, Joker. Hang in there" she said as we reached the door.

Jane and the others decided to try opening the door when they realized it was locked while I decided to investigated the blob more closely.

It was actually a lot bigger than at a distance, the curves on the shape making it look like it was curled up.

"Hmm" I mumbled, leaning in closer to try and peer inside. Glowing blue eyes met mine as I yelped, jumping backwards as it began to uncurl itself. It was a person! I accidentally landed on my poor leg, gasping as I collapsed onto the floor, grabbing my leg in pain.

"What is that thing?" Kaidan gasped as it began to charge at us. It suddenly turned to me as I lifted my arms in defense, but instead of attacking me, a pile of green liquid washed over me, making me gag and choke. If the smell wasn't bad enough, it was actually making it hard to see as I randomly started to kick with my good leg, hoping it would hit it.

The noise of a biotic barrier was heard around me, as it slowly grew bigger, managing to wipe off the liquid so I could see. I looked around to see that it'd disappeared, leaving only the liquid and a large puddle of green chunks to prove that it had existed at all.

I felt nauseous just looking at the stuff, must because I hadn't eaten in a while, I only dry-heaved, making it more painful.

"What else can make my life worse?" I whimpered angrily as immediately after saying it the door decided to open, revealing a sea of blobs which, on cue, uncurled, revealing an army of those black monsters.

"I hate my life," I moaned as I searched for my rifle, only to find it was missing. It was this painful realization that I'd noticed that I'd had absolutely no weapons _at all._

Now, I'd normally ask for help from the others, but my suicidal pride and the fact that they were too focused on the battle already that I didn't ask to borrow a weapon. Instead, I grabbed a luckily placed metal pipe and swung randomly at the incoming horde.

The problem was that I wasn't excellent at up-close combat, which was Jane's specialty. I preferred to shoot at a distance. I didn't have a choice so I had to try my best with what I had.

I tried not to let instincts take over and swing wildly, hoping it would hit them since it'd do more damage to me than to them. Instead, I tried doing the smart thing and timed my swings, until I eventually realized that I wasn't only being attacked by swings and puke from the monsters…I was being shot at.

I eventually managed to look up at the elevator door to see the colonists I'd saved before starting to shoot at the others and me.

It seemed we failed Species 37's 'assessment'

I tried backing towards the others, my leg starting to give in. Every twitch of the muscle sent sparks through my body, as I painfully forced myself to focus on the incoming monsters and the timings of my swings.

"Leave no survivors!" Jane barked at us, probably noticing the hostile colonists while Lizbeth shrunk in the background in fear.

"Oh my god!" She yelled, in fits of tears and uncontrollable shaking.

"Don't! You'll get their attention!" I yelled at her as already a few of the monsters ran towards her.

I was surrounded by a whole bunch of the buggers that I wasn't able to break free of them to help her.

"Lizbeth's in trouble!" I yelled, swinging at the head of one of them as it rebounded and caught another one.

"Someone help her!" I screamed at them as she was out of sight in a group of them. An ear-splitting scream erupted from the crowd, most likely breaking the sound barrier.

I lost focus for a second, trying to maneuver around the group of the things as I tried to reach her but one of them caught my leg, sending me sprawling onto the floor, landing on my leg. I lost my thoughts on timing as I swung madly, panicking and suffering.

Suddenly, two of them were headless and falling to the ground as Jane charge into the others, drawing the attention of the group surrounding Lizbeth.

They all shuffled away as I caught a glimpse of her. I stared, wide-eyed in horror before dry-heaving once again, the sight sickening me to my very core.

From the time it took the others to react, the monsters had already eaten most of her chest; the rest of her was covered in green gunk and slime.

I shook in fear and hopelessness, just wanting to be back on the Normandy with Joker and Shiva. I couldn't stand it here for another second.

I slowly used the metal pipe to help support myself as I pushed myself off the ground and onto my feet.

I looked up to see Jane finishing off the things as the others focused on eliminating the colonists.

I took one more look at Lizbeth before to my horror I realized that she was still alive.

It took every ounce of my body to drag myself over to her as I watched in pity and fear.

"Please…help…me," she gasped, mouth wide open as she trying to take in as much air as she could.

"I don't want to die," she pleaded, crying in what looked like extreme pain.

I heard someone coming closer and turned to see Jane staring emotionlessly.

"Please…commander" she begged. Jane didn't hesitate before lifting her gun and shooting her in the head.

I flinched when the gun went off as I said a quick prayer. No one should die like that.

"I show mercy to those who I deem worthy of it. No one should be eaten alive" Jane defended her decision as she handed me a pistol.

"I knew you wouldn't ask," she said as I dejectedly grabbed the gun from her hand.

I managed to nod in thanks, still not forgiving her but at least I'd gone past my suicidal pride stage. Now, as immaturely as it may sound, it's the silent treatment.

"Oh god" I heard Kaidan behind me as he came into view, limping towards Lizbeth as he stared in shock.

"What happened?" he asked, turning to me.

"Does it matter?" I managed to choke out since my throat was incredibly dry.

"Come on. We've wasted enough time here" Jane said before she silently took the pipe away and replaced it with her body, circling my arm around her neck as we headed towards the dead colonists.

It may surprise you but even Jane can feel guilt. Since we usually work well together, when one of us upsets the others, it's serious. Even if one of us isn't wrong, we still feel guilty about it.

Suddenly, explosions sounded behind us as we spun around to see masses of geth destroyers, rocket troopers and armatures heading through the metal door.

"Move! Move! Move!" Jane barked the order as she picked me up and flung me over her shoulder as we sprinted into the elevator. If I wasn't in pain and unforgiving at the incident, I would have laughed at the comical faces of Garrus and Kaidan as he had to carry Kaidan to the elevator. Once they were inside, Garrus not hesitating to quickly drop Kaidan onto the floor, not receiving any protest from Kaidan. Jane fisted the top floor button as we all crammed the left side, where they couldn't shoot us.

Just as the doors were about to close, two rockets flew through the gap and blew up at the back wall of the elevator, filling the room with smoke.

We all choke at the fumes as we all hurried to put our helmets on.

"We really should wear these more often" I said, finally breathing in clean air.

I think one of the reason we don't usually wear them is because it can be hard to see through at times and you having a limited view. Also, because we're still using standard military helmets, they don't last very long in a battle-heavy hot zone, like this whole bloody planet is.

After a few seconds the elevator stopped.

"Brilliant" I said, exhausted from the constant danger.

"Commander?" Jane's Omni-tool lit up as a hologram of Miranda's face appeared.

"Cerberus" Kaidan replied, earning a roll-eye from Miranda.

"By any chance, are you in the lift?" she asked as we all looked at each other cautiously.

"Why?" Jane asked suspicious.

"Well, I thought you'd like to know the whole colony is waiting for you at the doors. A sort of welcome back party, except with shotguns" she explained.

"Jane'll love that" I joked humorlessly.

"Well, they're going to wait a while: the elevator's jammed" Jane told her, ignoring my comment.

"I know: I jammed it" Miranda explained as silence followed her reply.

"And if you know what's good for you, you'll ask your loyalist biotic to create a barrier to stop the bullets" she advised before shutting off the transmission.

As if on cue, the elevator suddenly started to lower, only a few floors up from the colony.

"Kaidan: barrier" Jane ordered as Kaidan eventually blocked the doorway with a blue barrier.

"Get ready" Jane said as I shoved myself into the corner left of the elevator doors. Leaving the elevator wouldn't get me far since I'd either fall or get shot because of my injured reflexes. At least I'll have cover here.

Kaidan took the other corner by the door so he wouldn't be vulnerable when he dropped the barrier while Garrus and Jane took center-point.

"Ready?" Jane asked as the elevator slowed to a halt.

"Ready" we all replied as the elevator tinged before opening.

Suddenly, the barrier glowed bright yellow as we noticed the welcome back party had been replaced with a large fire.

"Kaidan?" Jane turned to him as he nodded in understanding before curving the barrier down, slowly enclosing the fire in a bubble.

Before he could though, the fire…froze?

We watched, confused, as the flames slowly turned bright blue, locked inside a crystal cage.

"What the-" Kaidan began before a figure appeared next to the frozen fire.

"Took you long enough" Miranda commented, crossing her arms while leaning against the fire.

"What did you do?" Kaidan asked, curiously.

"Cryoblast. You're not the only biotic here," Miranda explained. Kaidan glared at her but remained silent as he slowly stood up and walked out of the elevator. Jane helped me up and supported my weight as we all followed Kaidan out of the elevator and stood silently in front of Miranda.

"We have no time for Cerberus loyalists" Kaidan stubbornly told her.

"As I have no time for Alliance loyalists" Miranda retorted.

"As we have no time for this" Jane interrupted, silencing them both.

"I thought you said the colonists were waiting for us?" Jane asked.

"There were until the Thorian creepers discovered me and drew their attention to my location" Miranda explained before nodding towards an isolated building.

"Check the bodies if you don't believe me" Miranda said. Suddenly, footsteps headed to us as we all turned to see Fai Dan slowly inching forward, a pistol in his hand.

'Must…protect…the…Thorian" he began, lifting his pistol to Jane's head. Everyone took aim as he shook uncontrollably.

"I…won't…kill…your," he growled, struggling but slowly pointed the gun at his forehead.

"I won't surrender!" he yelled, before pulling the trigger, his body crumbling onto the floor.

I stared in shock at Fai Dan's lifeless corpse as we all stood in a moment of silence.

I noticed Miranda scanning his body with her Omni-tool before she walked over and crouched next to his body.

"What are you doing?" I asked confused as she began to search his pockets.

"You're looting his body?!" Kaidan yelled, outraged at the idea of looting the dead.

Suddenly, she pulled out a rusted key from his pocket and stood up, showing us the key.

"This unlocks a passageway under the building. It leads to the Thorian," she explained, rolling her eyes at Kaidan's reaction.

"How do you know?" he interrogated her, crossing his arms. He was probably still upset from the looting.

"Ever heard of reconnaissance before?" she waved him off before heading to the main doors of the building before turning back to us.

"I'm assuming you want to come as well?" she raised an eyebrow at us before entering the building.

"It's best if we keep a close eye on her" I suggested as Jane wordlessly began to follow the Cerberus operative while the rest of us obediently followed.

As we pushed open the doors, we soon realized that the lights were off. The darkness and cold temperature of the hallway gave of an eerie presence.

The light from Miranda's Omni-tool highlighted her body and a few feet of space around her.

"Smart" Garrus mumbled as we imitated Miranda's idea before a distant cry followed by a hush echoed throughout the otherwise silent hallway.

"That sounded like a child," I gasped, trying to locate the source as I began to limp towards Miranda.

I quickly scanned the nearest rooms with my Omni-tool, hoping to locate the person.

The first room on the left: empty

The second room on the left: empty

The first room on the right had familiar blobs dotted around the room so I decided to do the smart thing by blocking the door so they don't escape. I had to do it quietly so they wouldn't make a noise and possibly wake up any more hidden in the 'abandoned' structure.

I finally scanned the last room in the hallway before it branched into other sections of the facility.

Small figures were in the corner of the room. I looked through the glass in the door to see it was hidden behind filing cabinets and a large potted plant.

"What is it?" Jane stood next to me and looked at the scans.

"Someone's hiding in the corner" I explained.

"Those things?" she asked as I shook my head.

"No, they're moving to much compared to the group in the other room" I argued as I decided to throw caution to the wind and slowly open the door.

The figures suddenly moved in the scans before moving more to the side.

"Its okay. We're not going to hurt you," I cooed, making sure not to trip on the various office supplies scattered on the floor. Some type of struggle definitely happened here.

"Mom?" A meek voice sounded behind the plant before small banging noise followed by 'shut up'

"No, I'm not your mom. Could you come out, I don't really want to talk to a plant" I joked lightly as a small green eye poked through the plant leaves.

"You won't hurt us?" he asked, cautiously.

"If we were, you'd know" Jane replied.

"We won't" I smiled at them before sending a glare at Jane.

Slowly, the leaves of the plant shook as two small boys came into view.

One had black hair and brown eyes and wore a dark green sleeveless shirt and grey shorts and boots; all of which were covered in dirt.

He was carrying a small metal pipe and held it cautiously at his side as he eyed us all, particularly Jane who stared at him in response.

The other one had dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was shirtless and had dark brown trousers and trainers, which were browner than their original white colour. He eyed everyone with a childlike innocence and curiousity.

Both of the boys looked no older than 9.

"Who are you?" the black-haired boy asked us, still staring at Jane.

'We're with the Alliance" I explained as a faint snort sounded behind me. I didn't have to guess who it was from.

"What are your name's?" I asked lightly, trying to gain their trust.

"I'm Kaden," the blonde-haired one said.

"Nice name" Kaidan smiled at the boy.

We turned to look at the other one as he looked away before sighing.

"Sebastian" he mumbled before turning to me.

"What's yours?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"My name's Lily" I gestured to myself then Jane.

"The grumpy one's Jane" I joked, making Kaden laugh.

"I think I'll just call you Commander" Sebastian told Jane while she nodded in approval.

"You know who she is?" I asked, surprised that she was known even in remote colonies like Zhu's hope.

"Everyone knows the Butcher of Torfan" he replied as awkward silence filled the room.

"Anyway" I coughed, breaking the silence before motioning behind me.

"The man behind me is Kaidan," I told them.

"Nice name" Kaden added, making Kaidan smirk in response.

"The turian's Garrus" I continued.

"And the woman is…where's Miranda?" I asked, turning around to see she'd disappeared.

"Damn, she's gone. We need to catch up to her," Jane ordered before leaving the room.

"What do we do with the children?" I asked.

"Leave them. If they can survive this long, they can last a few more hours" Jane ordered, as I turned to her in slight anger.

"Jane, I'm not leaving little kids alone in a building full of those things" I glared at her.

"There's no time to argue" Jane retaliated as I refused to back down.

"Jane, they could die," I argued.

"It is a little extreme, Commander" Garrus added.

"She's the butcher of Torfan: she does what she does to get the job done" Sebastian confusingly defended Jane.

"At least someone sees through my perspective" Jane commented.

"Jane, we're not leaving them. I've put up with your attitude since the beginning but I'm not letting you leave defenseless children for finding Miranda" I nearly yelled.

"We've got a mission to do and we've going to finish it-" she began but I cut her off.

"Which we've already done. Our mission was to investigate the geth attack, which we have done. By your standards, we can leave now" I continued, suddenly becoming incredibly angry.

"That's not how it works" Jane defended as I scoffed.

"Could've fooled me" I retorted.

Immediately after I said it, Jane's face hardened to a point where it could rival Uldina.

"As your Commander, I order you to stand down. I decide what happens and that's that," she stated before turning to Kaidan.

"Kaidan, because of your limp, you can return to the ship and let Dr. Chakwas examine you. Because of this, you can escort the children to the ship as well" she ordered as Kaidan nodded in acceptance before her eyes were casted back onto me.

"As for you, Lily: we'll continue with this discussion once the mission is complete. Until then, I will have no more arguments and you will obey my commands" she stated as I nodded in acceptance and also relief that the children will be safe.

Of course, I was still worried about sending Kaidan, who was injured, alone with children to protect. I daren't argue with Jane anymore. Adrenaline from the argument stopped me from noticing how increasingly annoyed she was getting, more so than usual.

'Whatever happened in the Hammerhead must've done a number on her' I thought as my anger dissipated for a moment as concern for Jane suddenly entered my mind.

'I hope she's okay' I worried as her intimidating and confident posture literally oozed power and control. Torfan made her this way, and I never want to find out what happened. I was just another soldier in that battle but Jane took more than enough bullets for all of us. Probably more than all of the army combined.

We continued our silent march down the dark corridors before seeing an open-wide door at the end of a random corridor, a bright orange light emanated from the door.

"What to look?" Garrus asked Jane as she slowly edged towards the door, shotgun drawn as she peered through the door.

Her grip loosened around the gun, nearly dropping it as she stared wide-eyed around the corner, frozen in place.

"What is it?" I asked her, which was replied with silence.

Garrus and I looked at each other before we drew our guns, walking towards Jane and peering around the corner, before copying her pose.

A large sac of slime with around 20 'arms' reached around all the sides of the room. 20 coal-black eyes stared into space as long tentacles formed a circular curtain around what I guess is it's mouth. Everything was dripping slime.

What's worse, from where I was, I could tell the chamber was filled to the brim with those things.

"My training manual never covered this" Garrus joked in awe at the…plant.

"Life never covered this," I added. I've never seen anything like this before in my life…and I hope I never will again.

Suddenly, its tentacles began to push apart as a body slipped out of it before dropping onto the ground.

I gagged in disgust before taking a closer look at it.

It was fully clad in back armour, revealing only its head, which was dark green. Slowly, it began to stand, lifting its head. It was an Asari, and the outfit suggested it was a Commando.

"Do you think she's seen us?" I mumbled as she turned to us, glaring.

"Yep" Jane sighed, breaking out of her catatonic state as we all walked around the corner and slowly began to walk towards her.


	28. The Theory

"Is running still an option?" I laughed nervously as she continued to glare at our approaching forms.

"We refuse to converse with other life forms," she stated darkly as I hid behind Garrus.

He turned to me questionably as I shrugged.

"She scares me," I told him honestly as he shook his head in bewilderment before turning back to the asari.

"Why is that?" Jane asked, crossing her arms at her.

"We shall not be tricked again" she replied as distant groaning gave us pause.

"Jane…" I raised my voice in caution, searching for the source.

"What happened?" Jane interrogated her.

"We conversed with the life form, Saren, who sought knowledge of the past. We made a…trade," she explained as Jane motioned to continue.

"We traded knowledge: the knowledge of the past for the knowledge of the present, until Saren tried to destroy us" she continued before her eyes turned pitch-black.

"And now another seeks to harm us" she told us as distant shots echoed around the large circular chamber.

"Well, we found her" Garrus mumbled as the shots came closer.

"We were wrong to converse with life forms. We won't make the same mistake," the asari said as I turned just in time to see her grab Jane's neck and lift her into the air before her body was surrounded in biotics as she threw Jane into the wall, creating a crack in the wall.

Out of fear and protection, I tackled the asari onto the ground before shoving her across the floor and over the edge as I cautiously looked to see her flailing body dive into the depths below the plant.

I turned and jogged to Jane's side, adrenaline making me ignore the pain in my body.

"Are you okay?" I asked, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto her feet.

"Peachy" she coughed as the shots from before became louder as well as the groaning.

Suddenly, Miranda's body came into view as a mass of those things charged after her.

"Miranda!" I screamed in fear and surprise.

"Quick! While they're after me, destroy that plant!" she yelled as she ran past us along with the horde.

"Why is she risking herself for us?" Garrus asked confused.

"She's not stupid, and I doubt she's that selfless. She probably has what she needs and needed an escape route" Jane explained as I turned to her, confused.

"She couldn't have picked a safer one?" I watched Jane as she walked towards the plant.

"Probably didn't have a choice," Jane yelled from a distance as she search the higher levels before turning back to us.

"Okay, it looks like its 'roots' are attached to the walls around the building. If we find a way to destroy them, gravity can do the rest" Jane explained her strategy before wincing as she lowered her arms.

"Are you sure your okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine" she bit out as she began to head up the nearby staircase.

"When do you think they will be back?" I asked the group.

"Talking about them summons them y'know" Jane called over her shoulder.

"Let's just focus on the plant," Garrus added as we continued to ascend before a disturbingly familiar noise sounded below us.

"That was the plant again wasn't it?" I whined, peering over the edge of the stairs.

"You don't think it can clone asari, do you?" I asked, worriedly.

"I doubt it" Jane tried to assure us but it didn't stop us as we increased our pace.

"Look, there's another one" I nodded at the red-veined, bulging sac tied to the wall with a long red arm hanging from it.

"Lovely" I mumbled as Jane shot at it, making it explode violently.

"Watch it!" I yelped, dodging to goo as it sprayed all around us while an ear-shattering screech emitted from the plant.

"Let's go, we're wasting-" Jane was shoved backwards into the wall again as the asari reappeared.

I shot at her with continuous fire, never releasing the trigger until it was too late.

The rifle had overheated.

"Bugger!" I swore before the asari turned to me.

"Bugger," I swore, as I got ready to dodge before a loud bang and flash before revealing a gaping hole in the asari's chest as she fell onto the floor.

"Let's kill this thing before she comes back" Garrus yelled, scanning the area over with his rifle.

"Right: I'll deal with the roots and you two stop the asari from killing me" Jane grunted her order as we jogged up the stairs and onto a different floor.

I looked over the edge and scanned the upper levels.

"Three more arms left, Jane," I informed her as an unnerving moan came from the lower levels.

"I think they're back" Garrus mumbled, peering over the edge.

"Let's hurry" Jane ordered as we moved on ahead, climbing over piles of rubble.

Suddenly, I screamed in agony as a rush of pain enveloped my head, followed by dizziness.

"Oh, not now" Jane growled as the moaning got louder.

"Okay, Plan B: Garrus, look after Lily and stop those monsters from touching her. We're going to run; we only stop for the sacs, understand?" I managed to make out Jane's order as we started to run through the facility.

"What about the asari?" Garrus asked Jane as we navigated the corridors.

"Run" she retold.

"Distract her if you need to but keep moving" Jane ordered before narrowly avoiding a biotic pulse.

"Grenades" I groaned, managing to keep up with Garrus as he pulled me along.

"Good idea" he replied, throwing on onto the ground as we continued to run, only flinching when the grenade went off.

"Arm!" Jane yelled as she took a shot at the sac, making it explode as we got soaked, but I was in too much pain to notice. A shriek followed from the plant, making me feel like my ears were bleeding.

Suddenly, the ground went out from under me as I was hoisted onto Garrus's shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked before throwing down another grenade.

"No" I groaned, gripping my head. Why know, of all times?

"Hang in there" he said, sliding over a rock barrier with grace.

"Lily, I can't stop: are there any enemies behind us?" he asked.

I slowly lifted my head to see a horde of scrambling masses of bodies tirelessly chasing after us; arms outstretched with a hungering look on their faces.

"A few" I mumbled as he threw another grenade onto the floor. I groaned, dropping my head as I tried to block out the noise.

"Arm!" Jane yelled again, sliding under it before shooting it and pushing off the ground again. This time, the shriek managed to break off rubble from the top of the room

Garrus did the more normal route of just ducking under the arm blocking any other route around, leaving a few of our friends behind for a while.

"Are we there yet?" I mumbled into his shoulder as he called the question over at Jane.

"Yep!" she screamed as she began firing at the last one, except it didn't explode.

"This might take awhile," she yelled, wavering slightly at the sight of the oncoming horde.

"Lily, I need you to shoot" Garrus said, putting me onto the floor as he quickly took out his assault rifle and shot at the few close-by enemies.

I took out my pistol and began firing from the ground since I didn't trust myself to stand.

I managed to hit a few of them before a blue form was starting to emerge.

"Garrus, she's here" I strangled out the warning before turning to Jane.

"Are you done?" I managed to growl.

"Almost" she yelled over.

I hissed in pain at the noise as I fueled my rage against the enemies.

Suddenly, I was forced back into the wall by a biotic as the helmet took most of the force away from my head, thank god.

I saw the image of those creatures running towards me as I remembered Lizbeth being eaten alive.

'So this is it then' I thought as I helplessly shot at the creatures before I was recovered in goo. I heard another shaking roar from the plant as I heard it plummet and the earth rumbling crash in the depths below.

Suddenly, the creatures dropped onto the floor lifelessly, along with the clone.

I gave a lopsided grin before slowly looking up to see another asari slowly walking towards me before I lost consciousness.

The images flashed through my head on constant replay, except they were distorted even more like something was manipulating them in my thoughts.

They were also a lot clearer, meaning they were a lot more gory and horrific than before, if that was possible.

Suddenly, I felt something in my mind. It filled my thoughts with fear and I didn't even know what it was. It was then that it spoke, like a whisper in the back of my mind.

_We will end you_

My eyes shot open as I chocked on air, propelling myself forward and managing to fall off something and land on the ground in a cold sweat,

"Lily!" Someone yelled as they flipped me around.

Doc scanned me over frantically as I breathed heavily, wrapping my hand gently around my throat as I hugged myself.

"Lily, it's me: Dr Chakwas. Do you know where you are?" she asked me as I scanned around the welcoming sight of the med bay.

I sighed happily, laying my head on the side of the bed.

"I was monitoring your brain activity when it increased dramatically. Are you feeling alright?" she asked me slowly as I dragged myself back onto the bed with Doc's assistance.

It was then that I noticed Kaidan sleeping in the bed next to me.

"He's resting while the painkillers set in," she explained as I turned to her to see another body behind her: Jane.

"Is she alright?" I asked concerned.

"She'll be fine but she'll need to rest for a few days. The asari did a lot of damage to her skeletal structure" Doc explained.

"What's happening to me, Doc?" I whimpered.

"I might be able to help" Liara's kind voice called behind me as I turned to see her smile at me.

"I was doing some research on the protheans' beacons and my personal knowledge, I might be able to explain the fainting" Liara continued, walking next to Doc.

"Nothing bad, I hope?" I asked, nervously.

"It might not even be the reason; this is just a theory mixed with speculation" she replied as she pulled out a data pad.

"According to various archaeological findings, they indicate that the protheans had a 'sixth sense', if you will. Like asari bonding, they can share information with each other. That's how they can communicate through the beacons" Liara began to explain.

"When you touched the beacon, you formed a link with the beacon and in turn anyone who had recently interacted with the beacon" she continued.

"You formed a weak bond with Saren. You can't share information but if you or him interact with a beacon, you share the experience of losing consciousness" Liara finished.

"So Saren has a beacon?" I asked.

"Like I said, its just speculation, but if it's right then yes, he has a beacon" Liara replied.

"Brilliant" I groaned, rubbing my forehead.

"The beacon probably has useful information. Finding the beacon could be helpful" Doc commented, checking up on Kaidan's vitals.

"We'll have to wait for information from either the Council or another source," Liara told me.

"Lieutenant?" Doc called as I look at her questionably.

"Jane must remain in the med bay until the treatment has finished. For now, according to regulations, you now control the ship" Doc explained as I sat their dazed by the pile of information I've just be given in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly, the door clicked open, revealing Shiva.

"I apologize for leaving your side. It won't happen again" Shiva sounded panicked for some reason.

"It's okay, Shiva" I told her as she floated next to me.

"For now, I'm at your service" she added before showing a hologram of Tali, Wrex and Garrus.

"I'd suggest gaining the crew's loyalty while Commander Shepard is indisposed" Shiva spoke more calmly now before shutting down the hologram.

"I will, Shiva. Thank you for the suggestion" I nodded before a wave of fatigue hit me.

"Rest, Lily. You've had a busy day and Jane can fill you in on the rest of the mission later" Doc suggested as Shiva offered her assistance to care for us.

I relaxed back into my bed, my eyes drooping before finally closing as I drifted off into a more comfortable sleep.

**Dream of the Past - Earth; Tower Bridge**

I sat with my legs hanging over the edge of Tower Bridge as I watched the slug, the target that barely managed to flee, float along the Thames.

"Well?" he smirked, holding the rifle over his shoulder as I glared away from him before sighing helplessly.

"What do you want to know?" I asked him, turning to face him.

"Where is he?" he asked bluntly, making me sigh.

"I'm not telling you that," I mumbled, turning away from him as he walked over to sit next to me.

"You promised," he argued, placing the rifle next to him.

"I promised information" I retorted, leaning back on my arms as I watched him.

"Okay then" he said, imitating my position as I battle thoughts in my head.

'Should I? Jason will kill me if he finds out'

'He won't find out and if he loves you, he wouldn't suspect you'

'Does he? Even so, I did make a promise'

"I'll give you the time and location of our next smuggling operation. It will be heavily guarded" I sighed as he nodded in approval. I opened my Omni-tool and sent co-ordinates and time placement to his own, which immediately lit up.

He opened it and, after checking, nodded and closed it.

"I'll organize a raid. I promise I won't hurt any of the crew," he told me as I chuckled humorlessly.

"You got the info, you don't need to pretend like you'll care which target you pick" I pushed myself off the ground as he did the same, turning to face me.

"I won't touch them," he stated as I brushed past him.

"We'll see" was all I said as I re-entered the car.

He got in the other side and, taking a quick glance at me, started the car and drove off into the traffic below.

We sat in comfortable silence when we drove through the traffic as I watched the flying lights dazzle me in the midnight sky.

"Will you be at the raid?" Garrus suddenly asked me, breaking my focus.

"Of course, me and my sister help him organize our operations" I told him honestly before I froze stiff.

'Please tell me he didn't hear that?' I thought as I waited for him to speak.

"So you know where his other operations will take place? Interesting," he mumbled the ending as I swore in my head.

'I relax for a few seconds and then tell him a very good reason to keep in touch with me and probe me for more information. Brilliant' I glared at myself as I turned back to look out the window before gasping loudly.

"Stop the car!" I hissed as he slowed to a halt, parking next to the park a few blocks away from my house.

"What?" he asked confused as I mumbled 'no, no, no' over and over. Outside my apartment block was my sister and Jason arguing.

"Listen, I need you to trust me here. I need you to handcuff me and get me to Jane. Pretend I've done another offense or something" I begged him as he looked at Jane and Jason.

"Scared to interrupt them?" he asked me, looking at me questionably.

"You could say that" I sighed as I watched him pull out a pair of handcuffs.

"Thank you" I smiled gratefully, completely forgetting that he was the turian trying to arrest my boyfriend and was instead a turian willing to help someone in need.

Unfortunately, this makes me a damsel in distress.

**Jane**

"What makes you think I know where she is?" I glared at the filth in front of me, the same guy who pays me and he's also the one dating my sister. If you can't guess:

I'm not happy.

"She's your sister! You, of all people, should know!" he yelled at me, becoming more and more inpatient.

"She went to see you, that's all I know!" I yelled back, becoming more and more irritated before sighing, trying to relax myself.

"Have you rung her mobile?" I asked him as he began to pace slowly in front of me.

"She's not answering," he mumbled, stopping in front of me as he took a moment of silence.

He had the basic look: messy black hair like what you'd find on a male model; forest green eyes; a light tan and a small, dark blue, crystal earring in his right ear. He was also very muscular, with a large sword tattoo on his back, according to Lily.

He wore a large dark brown hoodie, which was completely covered in dirt and loose-fitting, dark blue denim jeans along with large brown boots.

"I told you, I'm 17!"

I jump at the sudden noise before looking to see Lily struggling against the turian from before.

"Oh brilliant" I groaned, gaining Jason's attention.

"And I told you, I don't buy it. I'm only letting you go because it's a minor offense" he retorted as he led her to the doorstep.

"Who the hell are you?" Jason glared threateningly at the turian as I rolled my eyes, holding him back.

"Don't mind him, he's just a cop looking for _Jason Trent_" I explained casually, which immediately shut him up.

"Heard he doesn't like people getting into his business" he narrowed his eyes at Garrus.

"Doesn't have a choice" the turian shrugged before unlocking the handcuffs and pushed Lily gently to us.

"If I catch you again," he threatened as Lily chuckled.

"I'll run" she smirked. His mandibles twitched before he left and headed back to his car.

Lily yawned loudly before jogging inside.

"Well, I'm tired. I'll see you guys later" she rushed as she nearly slammed the door.

"We can discuss the plans tomorrow" I told him as I followed Lily inside.

I jogged up the stairs and into our apartment, just managing to catch Lily before she went into her room.

"What the hell happened?" I yelled at her, shutting the door behind me.

"I'll explain tomorrow, Jane, I promise. I'm just drained right now," she whimpered, doing the puppy dogface.

'Goddamn' I thought as I gave in, waving her off.

"Fine, get some sleep. You'll need it for the operation tomorrow" I told her as she froze in the doorway.

"You okay?" I asked her, concerned as she shook herself back to life.

"Yeah, I'm good" she quickly replied as she shut her door.

I eyed her door for a few seconds before going back to the TV. I don't know what's wrong with her but I'll bet on it that it's because of the turian, whatever the hell his name is.


End file.
